Aspiring singer-songwriters moving on up.

Byline: POP NOTES By Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

Amy Obenski and Dave Hannon share the night Wednesday at Cozmic Pizza. Both are capable young artists trying to make it in a flooded singer-songwriter world.

Obenski is the more accomplished of the pair, who both favor piano-based musings. If you like the poppy introspection of Jason Mraz, you will enjoy Hannon.

Both KLCC-FM and KRVM-FM have played Obenski's songs. More impressively, her song "Carousel" appeared on the indie-artist-exposing television show "Grey's Anatomy," propelling it to peak at No. 23 on the iTunes folk chart, according to a news release.

Obenski's music sounds familiar, but there is something a touch unique about her voice; it's as though she has about 13 percent of a charming lisp. It works well.

On her new recording "Kite," Obenski comes through as sincere, sweet and someone who works really hard.

That work isn't limited to promoting her own music. In her hometown of Santa Cruz, Calif., she organizes benefit concerts for environmental organizations and has started a concert series called "Take Back Your Forest."

Obenski also has the rare distinction among folk singers of trying to see the best in George W. Bush. On "As We Go Down," although she doesn't mention the president by name, she sings, "I want to know the thoughts that run through his mind/ I wonder what sort of beauty I'd find."

Her point is she loves everyone and everyone is the same. She's either got a vivid imagination or is very advanced on a spiritual path for being so young.

Obenski plays first, at 8 p.m., followed by the Tacoma native Hannon, who is the son of a professional musician.

Cozmic Pizza is at 199 W. Eighth Ave. The suggested donation is $5.

Janet Bates 

Three local shows

While on the topic of artist-activists, it's worth noting that Oregon Coast artist Janet Bates is in town this week for three shows, including one at Cozmic, and that she has a new CD.

Bates has released "For All of His Wealth" and continues to attract niche audiences.

"She uses her beautiful voice to bring attention to those in our world that are not being heard," her bio says, adding that she is most often compared to Joan Baez.

Bates has a quote from fellow folk artist Tracy Grammer in her bio:

"Let me tell you again how much I enjoy your songwriting. This is what folk music is all about," Grammer says. It's about "social awareness. Love it."

Bates and her band play at Saturday Market at 1 p.m., then the World Cafe at 8 p.m. that night. The Cozmic show is Sunday at 8 p.m. and has a $5 to $10 cover charge.

Michael Prophet and the Scientist

Sunday, Taboo

Reggae pioneer - a news release calls him a "superstar" - Michael Prophet will stop at Taboo on Sunday as part of his first West Coast tour since 2006.

The Wild Wild West Dub Tour finds Prophet traveling with engineer the Scientist, who will mix live, and a seven-piece band of musicians based in Jamaica and California, the release says.

Master percussionist Hawaiian Lyon will open the show at 9 p.m. Later, he will provide backing vocals for Prophet.

The majority of American youth might recognize Prophet's music from the violent Sony PlayStation video game "Grand Theft Auto."

Tickets for the all-ages show are $12 in advance and $15 at the door, 23 W. Sixth Ave.

Cryptacize

Sunday, Sam Bond's

What if I told you Cryptacize had the lines "Every note is an unfinished song/ We're all in a cosmic singalong" on one of its tracks from the new CD, "Dig That Treasure"?

If not put in proper context, the lines might make you think of some swirling-skirted hippie pondering our universal connectedness. But in the messy and chaotic, atmospheric and odd landscape of this band, the lines work.

This sounds like the soundtrack to someone's mind - someone in a padded room whose thoughts are variably influenced by lithium.

The songs go from dreamy and lovely, with vocals by Nedelle Torrisi ("Willpower"), to unsettling duets ("We'll Never Dream Again").

The San Francisco Bay Area trio mixes things up on purpose, manipulating your sense of order with frequent key changes and what a news release calls "sudden rhythmic gestures."

The release says the band's debut offering is inspired by elements of "West Side Story," "The Wizard of Oz" and the "other-world sentimentality" of Sun Ra's "Spaceship Lullaby."

A wise pop star once said, "We're never gonna survive/ Unless we get a little crazy." Under that logic, this band should be around for a while.

Baitball opens the evening at 9 p.m., and there is a $6 cover. Sam Bond's Garage is at 407 Blair Blvd.