This Wednesday, Cozmic Pizza will host an intimate evening of West Coast singer-songwriters.
Amy Obenski, accompanied by David Hannon, will give Eugene music fans an earful of sultry folk and heartfelt acoustic rock.
Obenski, who resides in Santa Cruz, is currently working on her third album.
“I just kind of put my first album together and didn’t put much thought in it,” she said.
When it came time to record her second album, “Kite,” she decided to take a different approach.
“I wanted to put some extra effort into it and make it an artistic expression,” she said. “Each time I’m always trying to achieve something that’s even more of an expression than what I did before.”
Obenski got a huge break when her song “Carousel” was featured on “Grey’s Anatomy” last year.
It may have pushed the song to the 23rd position on the iTunes folk chart, but it happened by chance.
The editor of “Grey’s Anatomy,” who was also a friend of Obenski’s brother, put “Carousel” into the show as musical filler.
The show’s producers loved it and decided to keep it in the scene.
Obenski later found out she has another tie to the popular show. She went to high school and sang in choir with Sara Ramirez, who plays Dr. Callie Torres on the show.
Obenski’s songs have also been featured on the MTV show “Made.”
Obenski cites influences like Bob Dylan, Ani Difranco and Iron & Wine.
She is also a huge Prince fan.
“I don’t feel bad,” she said laughing. “Most people just wouldn’t expect it.”
Wednesday’s performance won’t be the first time she has played Eugene.
“What I love about Eugene is just how into music everybody is,” Obenski said. “People just want to come hear music, and that’s really rare. I was really surprised the first time I came up there.”
Obenski is playing a one-hour set, including a half-hour of new songs.
She expects to release her yet-to-be-titled third album at the end of the year.
Obenski said, “I think of a lot of musicians put on a show and are acting on stage.”
She wants to make it clear that her goal is to connect to the audience on a different level.
“I just want to be myself and sing my music. I want people to be there for the music and enjoy it for what it is,” Obenski said.
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