Marianne Osiel is a passionate, self-honest singer-songwriter who has appeared across North America. She connects with her audience whether she is opening for Bo Diddley at the Bottom Line in New York City, playing acoustic and slide guitar at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco or mainstage at Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. Regardless of venue, she carves out her own path with an emphasis on love, longing, and compassion, straddling traditions and influences of classical, folk, blues, and improvisation. Her influences range from the 17th century through the present, including J.S.Bach, Aretha Franklin, Joan Baez, Little Feat, Robert Johnson, James Taylor, George Martin and the Beatles. While Marianne has found her voice as an active singer-songwriter performing live and in the studio, she also has one foot in the classical world, with training on piano, oboe, flute, voice, and guitar. After studying oboe and voice at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she served as a full-time member of the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Nashville Symphony, also becoming a strong session player in the recording studio. Among the many musicians she has performed and recorded with in both the classical and the pop world are: Roy Orbison, Jars of Clay, George Massenberg, Michael LeGrand, Bill Conti, Emmy Lou Harris, Jo-el Sonnier, Phil Ramone, Take Six, John Hall, Paul Winter Consort, and Judy Collins. As a backup vocalist and musician (slide guitar and oboe), Marianne has performed onstage with numerous artists including John Hall (Orleans, “Dance With Me”, “Still The One”), Robbie Dupree, Gatemouth Brown, Ashley Cleveland, Delbert McClinton, Daryll Tookes (Sting), Lari White, and Rick Danko (The Band). Marianne’s first self-produced album, "Strange Girl" (Maitri Records), received critical acclaim nationally, emphasizing her talents on songwriting, arranging, and performing. Also featured on the album are Craig Krampf (Melissa Ethridge), Reese Wynans (Stevie Ray Vaughn), Dale Armstrong, Don Kerce (disappear fear, Angela Kaset), Waldo Latowsky (Gatemouth Brown, Suzie Boggus), Barry Sanders, Greg Barnhill, Scott Baggett, Nashville String Machine members David Davidson, Clara Meyer, Kris Wilkinson, Monisa Angell, and Julie Tanner. Recent projects involve healing through music. Marianne’s intention is to create an opening of heart for people hearing her songs. She recently completed a project entitled, “Peacemeal”, a recording that encourages healing through self integration, a result of the tragic 9 – 11 events. Performers on the CD include keyboard player David Sancious (Eric Clapton, Sting, Seal), guitarist Billy Masters (Dar Williams, Bob Hillman), and singers Barry Carl (Rockapella), K.J. Denhert, and Tim Lawless. Currently, Marianne is putting finishing touches on a new solo-acoustic CD entitled, “Full Of Wholes”. Recordings of Marianne are available through this website (double-click on “Products”), and on: www.musictogrowby.com, Artist Launch, and CD Baby.