Hello.  I am the female voice you hear.  I want you to feel me, and the more you do the better.  So, here it be…a little bit about me.  I think it might help.

I grew up in a nook, in the mountains of Southern California.  So much of my upbringing, I spent wandering barefoot through creeks exploring nature.  This put a grounding force within me that I still feel when overwhelmed by natural beauty.  I am a member of a close nuclear family of four.  My parents have a love for each other that I was always scared I’d never find, until I met my husband, details on him in a few.  My brother, 2 years my junior, is one I am lucky to have.  A wild heart he has, a vibrant and creative soul he is.  My family is an incredible part of my life and we have learned much together by never giving up on each other, even when times are tough.

What else colors me?……aaahaaaaaa!  MUSIC!  Now there’s a river that has always flown through my life (all our lives, huh?).  Music is a big deal in my family, so I feel like I nursed it from the bottle.  My grandmother on my dad’s side was a professional opera singer in her youth.  My dad and one of his older brothers were in bands (together and apart) in their late teens and early twenties.  My dad is a great drummer and my uncle is a great guitarist.  When I came in to the world my dad was eager to see if I had my grandmother’s voice.  Family folk lore tells me that the first recording I did was of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” at age three on my dad’s tape deck.  Wish we could find that thing, hence the folk lore.  Didn’t do much more recording after that.  Not until age 23.  Emerging shyness, uncomfortable adolescence, and all encompassing stage fright plagued me till fairly recently.  So, I guess between the ages of three and 23 were the incubation years, for my voice and soul.  I found my voice through countless lone listening sessions in my room and car.  Kept the sound up real loud cause heaven forbid a single person heard me.  Found my soul through falling down and getting back up, over and over and over again.

I wanna comment on all the artists that have impacted who I am and helped me to find my voice.  Here it goes, in some sort of chronological order starting from when I was about 12, I guess (although these don’t include all of the amazing bands/artists that I heard in my home growing up via my parents…bands like The Police, The Crash Test Dummies, Roxy Music, Seal, Pearl Jam, Sade, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix and the list goes on and on)…Alanis Moorisette on her first album, Meynard from TooL, Sarah McLachlan, Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders, Paula Cole’s first and second albums, Tracy Chapman, Fiona Apple, Robert Plant, Sinead O’Conner, Aimee Mann, Joss Stone, Aretha Franklin, and Alicia Keyes. These people taught me how to sing or at least I learned while singing with them.  I’m sure there are more that I just can’t think of right now. Ooooo like Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows on their first couple albums, Bono from U2 on their Achtung Baby album, and Joan Osborne (I can’t believe I forgot her). What an amazing journey it has been discovering who I am, and I am so thankful to all the bands and artists that help me get to this point.  I only hope that I can give back all that I’ve received from music.  A hefty goal that is, but I am up to the challenge.

Is anybody bored yet?  I’m almost done if ya are.  To make an endless story end at some point I’m going to cheat and skip some very important parts in the middle (our music is personal, as will be my own album which is on its way, and much of these stories can be found in there, if you are looking for juicy details).  My brother is a drummer too (an extremely creative one…go bro!) and ended up living with and playing in a band with my now husband.  Little bro invited me over to sing.  For one of the first times, I really sang my heart out in front of others, in part because I was desperate to win the heart of the devastatingly handsome, beyond talented and wise, bassist and lyricist in the band.  What a moment frozen in time.  It was really then that I first let Ari Vox outta the box.  What a bizarre, other-worldly, chemical pull I have to my now husband.   what an amazing gift that he is also my partner in musical play, US.G.

So, I and US.G make two but there are currently three that make up Gnos-tel-jah’s core.  And the third is…my husband’s best friend and best man David Will.  As an MC I feel Mr.Will rivals the best and is only beginning to tap into his talent.  I’ll quiet myself now, and let him tell you who he is and perhaps how the US.G/David Will duo came to be.

There are a million stories I’d love to share and will continue to through music and through our blog.  I deeply appreciate your taking an interest in us and welcome you to the Gnos-tel-jah family.

May grace grace you and love hold
you in times when your spirit is in need.
May you be what you truly are.
May time not tether you to it.
May you find the subtle beauty in all
things however annoying, however tragic.
May you always remember that there is always hope.

Much love and peace to you,
Ari Vox