B i o g r a p h y

Growing up in a music family in Los Angeles, I was continually mesmerized in the presence of composers and musicians. Not by the glitz, but the artistry behind the scenes – the look in their eyes, the sense of a quiet devotion to noticing moments and details – and the ability to turn sounds and words into compositions that can reach us wherever we are and move us so deeply. My father Ian was a Grammy-winning film and television composer/arranger and my mother Billie worked on the Tonight Show for years. I am grateful to have had such an intimate view of so many artists I admired, and I've been music-obsessed for as long as I can remember. 

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As a songwriter I’ve had the incredible fortune to live this practice, and to collaborate with more inspiring artists than I could have imagined. A classically trained flautist and choir singer as a kid, I never learned to play piano. So, when songwriting came to call as I was finishing university, I simply started moving my hands around the keyboard, trusting my ear to lead me. I created a band, thanks to talented, generous, up and coming musician friends, and began performing my mix of folk/pop/jazz-ish/funky music at (Café) Largo, Molly Malone's, Genghis Cohen, the Troubador, and other L.A. Clubs. The rest is a history, and a highway of songwriting that I wouldn't trade for anything. 

My life is a name-drop swamp of musical adventures, owing mostly to good luck, and helped by my willingness to throw myself out there in all kinds of situations over time, which led to many treasured opportunities and relationships.  I've performed live and on television, and my songs and voice appear on soundtracks and other people's albums (folk, pop, and trip-hop), as well as my own. I write mostly at the piano, though I also love composing on old drum machines and vintage electronic gear for fresh perspectives. 

As a singer/songwriter/player/bandleader, I first opened for Kimm Rogers at Bebop Records in Reseda (IYKYK!!). From there, I have written and/or performed or recorded with my early crew that included Joe Zimmerman, Dave Levison, John Depatie, Suzanne Morrisette, Takeshi Akimoto, Larry Friedman, Maia Sharp, Paul Scriver, Mark Addison, Greg Kurstin, Mitch Tobias, Mike Elizondo, Phil Harrington, James Renald, and my wonderfully talented sister Vanessa Freebairn-Smith...

And later with Mandy Moore, Jennifer Paige, Mark Karan, Justin Walden, Blair Sinta, Brian MacLeod, David J Carpenter, Lyle Workman, Mark Isham, Joel Shearer, Greg Leisz, Nels Cline, Jack West, Richard Howell, Danny Piccione, Sean Feder, Bill Dakin, Chris Detrick, Frank Martin, Gary Brown, Jenny Scheinman, Jim Santi Owen, and many others.

I'm now performing a broad range of cover tunes as well as my own, with the Woodwork Collective, Aardvark, Pete Sawyer and the Left Hand Monkey Wrench Gang, Matt Lazarus Band, Joe Marcinek Band, others, and on my own. My early love of jazz, funk, and blues continues to be a deep influence no matter what I'm singing. 

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Music is my ride and refuge. Singing is a joy. Following sounds that move me has been the best way I have found to move past dead ends and around blind curves, while still going right through the middle of everything.

Mitch Tobias Photography