"I sped down Robertson, my Inobe CD playing as loud as I could stand and as soulful as I wanted to become." - Eric Jerome Dickey, from the NY Times Best Seller Naughty Or Nice

Inobe has a soul-shifting voice and sings with a transparent honesty that engages listeners in intimate dialogue. Crafting a soulful blend of acoustic and electric funk/jazz, her songs and performances convey an understanding of life's situations that makes you feel she's singing directly to you.

Inobe has performed 5 USO tours to lift spirits and entertain American troops around the world. She has played her music in 17 countries across North and Central America, Europe, Greenland, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Rim and the Caribbean. Her world travel experiences have added a heightened consciousness to her songs that were already rich with hope and compassion for others.

She has drawn audiences at many premier music venues including the Viper Room; King King Hollywood; Temple Bar; Hard Rock Café Atlanta; Cotton Club; Café Fais Do Do; Blue Café; EarthLink Live, Room 5 Lounge and Apache Café. She appeared before an audience of 400,000 viewers on Fox 5 Good Day Atlanta.

Inobe has been a featured performer at several regional festivals and conferences including Atlanta's Music Midtown, National Black Arts Festival, Heritage Arts Festival, African Festival of the Arts and Atlantis Music Conference.

Her music and persona have received larger-than-life attention. The real-life entertainer and her music inspire the lead characters in the New York Times best sellers “Naughty or Nice” (2003) and “Chasing Destiny” (2006) by Eric Jerome Dickey.

“I write about things God has brought me through, but I also write to others’ pain,” says Inobe. “People like your music if they can stretch to identify with it, but they don’t fully appreciate it unless your music stretches to identify with them first.”

© ® 2013 Inobe

Press Release:
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Don’t Call it a Hiatus:
 

Sparked by Creative Sojourn, Soulstress Inobe Records Her Most Personal Album Yet

Los Angeles, CA - January 30, 2013 - After three years, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Inobe is set to return with her fourth studio album. Showcasing a rootsy blend of southern soul and acoustic R&B, the self-titled album promises to be the most intimate departure into Inobe’s creative evolution. Set to debut on February 19, Inobe is the insight-filled love child of cross-country excursions and artistic immersion.

To get the ball rolling on the project, Inobe temporarily relocated to her former home, Atlanta, where the lower cost of living enabled 16 months of concentrated songwriting and creative exploration. “I absolutely love all that L.A. has to offer,” Inobe says. “The diversity, the vitality, it’s truly exhilarating. But it’s like they say sometimes, the rent is too darned high.”

With the additional flexibility that Atlanta afforded, Inobe delved deeper into composition and production, tasks for which she previously relied on others. “On my other albums I mostly wrote lyrics to producers’ tracks or while freestyling with my band,” recalls Inobe. “This time, I came up with songs on my guitar and laid the grooves and vocals in GarageBand. So every element was born out of what I was feeling. In that way, these songs are more personal,” she claims.

With songwriting complete, Inobe moved back to L.A. where overdubs and final production were recorded using Pro Tools. After listening to the original vocal tracks, which she recorded herself usually in one or two takes, Inobe and her producer, Marcus Thomas, decided to keep them because the feel of the in-the-moment performances were better than perfectly comped productions.

“There’s a lot going on in the background of some these songs,” laughs Inobe. “On one song, I wanted soft, wispy vocals, but being new to recording myself, I ended up with room ambience as well,” she explains. Instead of re-tracking and risk losing the emotion of “that” moment, Inobe added vinyl record noise and gave the whole track a lo-fi, vintage vibe.

The personal “connecting of the composition, songwriting and production dots” coupled with stark, honest vocal performances gives Inobe a very intimate and conversational tone throughout. The lead off track, “She’s Fly”, is a gritty soul throwback about a woman who’s fab precisely because she’s not trying to be. “Take A Drive”, a melodic strummer, was inspired by the burdenless freedom Inobe felt while on a cross-country drive along historic Route 66. The hauntingly sweet ballad “Find Me” was shaped by the expanse and serenity Inobe experienced while exploring “Red Rock Country” Sedona, AZ.