MP3 Amy Obenski - Kite

"Amy Obenski employs breathy jazzy vocals with luxurious catchy hooks that bend and drip down your spine giving you a nice tingle of delight." - Smother Magazine

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Acoustic, FOLK: like Joni



Details:
As a Holiday gift, you can buy two or more copies of "Kite" for 30 off until January 1st, 2007.


Obenski Flies Her 'Kite'
By Cody Kraatz
Santa Cruz Sentinel

When people compare her to Joni Mitchell or Joan Baez, local singer-songwriter Amy Obenski finds it "kind of strange," because they're not really her influences.

"I listened to the music of that era, but I was more into listening to Bob Dylan," Obenski says, and recently poetic songwriters with acoustic, folksy sounds, like Iron and Wine, Erin McKeown and Laura Veirs, have had a lot of play in her CD player.

Obenski says, "I'm more inspired by local people and friends." Her albums are close-knit affairs, but in four years of performances in small local venues she has generated a substantial following. Fans filled 100 seats at the release party for her 2003 debut "What We Tell."

In the 200 seats at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, there is room for new fans when Obenski celebrates the release of "Kite," a CD recorded like her first by her friend Dee Fortney in his home studio. Obenski sings mostly original songs and plays piano and guitar.

Her backup on the album will also play in Friday's show, Ted Framhein on bass and Paul Stevens on percussion, and she will be joined on some songs by vocalist Debbie Reed.

The new CD brings her vocals to the forefront, with folk guitar and gentle percussion behind lyrics that are simultaneously personal and political.

"I didn't go into songwriting thinking, 'I'm going to write a political song,' " she says, "but it sort of comes out that way. I'm not trying to make a message, except to connect with other people."