My Story

My name is Annika, the artist behind Arnika Montana. Debuting with a song at a Christmas function when I was only 4 years old, I have been singing all my life. A natural with harmonies and foremost a vocalist, I also play acoustic, rhythm guitar and hand percussion. I have participated in many different electric and acoustic live music and recording projects including vocal jazz, folk, Klezmer, musicals. pop and church music, as well as rock, country, R&B, blues and soul. A multi-linguist, I have performed in public and private venues in the U.S., Europe and Russia in a variety of languages such as Spanish, French, German, Russian, Italian, Czech, Polish, Hebrew, Yiddish, Turkish, Icelandic... to name a few.

I have written a few songs in various languages over the years. In the summer of 2013, I reached a point in my life in which I was increasingly inspired to put my thoughts and feelings into song. I recorded them at Hit & Run Recording in Rockville, MD with the support and generosity of sound engineer and owner, Steve Carr, my good friends John Guidera and Mark Bruininga, and Alan Oresky, violinist extraordinaire, resulting in my first album "Well Why Not" (2014). I hope you enjoy my tunes as much as I do and that they inspire you to strive for peace and understanding in this world.

The second album, "Suspended in Motion", brings back the musical and creative talent of John and Mark and we added Greg Brown, our very tasteful and subtle percussionist. "Suspended in Motion" has a little more rhythm and was released in August 2016.

In October 2016, I moved to Southern Virginia. I have been slowly working on finding new, like-minded musicians and hope to be performing around the Halifax County area soon.

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