My Brain Age video game says that writing Acrostics
is good for activating your prefrontal cortex.
So here’s one about me:

My songs come through me from
Another place: some kind of loving omnipresence. My dad,
Ralph, calls it God.
I call it the Universe. You can call it
Anything you like, or
Nothing. It makes
No difference to me, as long as you
Enjoy it with an open heart.

Back in college, I started writing songs and performing them with my friend
Amy in a duo called Wood Nymph. (There’s a song by the same name that I
Recorded on my computer and is for sale on my website.) I lived in
London for a while, where I recorded my EP Dreamin’. Now I’m based in
Oakland, California,
Where I hope you will come hear me play very soon.

Click here for the lyrics to California February

Marianne with her father Ralph and sister Gania at the Welcome Cafe, July 2007

"Marianne Barlow's music speaks of beauty and depth. She weaves haunting emotional and personal lyrics with strong melodies and rhythms to create some real gems. This is only the beginning..."
~Christine Kane, singer-songwriter, June 2006

Actually the beginning was at Humboldt State University, where Marianne first started writing songs. Or was it in high school when her mom gave her her first guitar? Or was it those piano lessons when she was little? Or the musician's blood she inherited from her jazz keyboard & sax playing father? Whenever it began, it was a great day because now Marianne's music is touching people's hearts and funny bones wherever she goes. From those first, tentative open mics in London to regular cafe gigs and benefit concerts in San Francisco, Marianne brings her lyrics to audiences like gifts lovingly wrapped in a warm voice and gentle guitar. Christine's right. This is only the beginning.

"Marianne's CD arrived and I sure do think it is GREAT - such BEAUTIFUL music. A lot of the music on the radio nowadays is not easy to listen to, but I am enthusiastic about Marianne's music."
~Mary Howard, family friend, in an email to Marianne's dad, April 2006

With grandparents from Oklahoma, Arizona, Japan and Southern California, parents from Walton’s Mountain and the Pleiades, and a sister from Medieval Britain, you never know what to expect from this singer-songwriter.
Marianne was born in Van Nuys, California (Like, omiGOsh, the VALLey!). She survived many things during her formative years including Drill Team, the Northridge Earthquake, and many blissfully uninformed visits to fast food establishments. She started playing guitar at Girl Scout Camp and started writing songs when she heard a terrible song about burying dead babies under a tree and thought, “I could write a better song than that.” She humbly hopes you will agree that she has succeeded, even though you have not heard the original dead baby song and therefore cannot give an impartial judgment.