Cosmo's Dream

Cosmo’s Dream is an Americana/Bluegrass trio. They can play without amplification, or they have PA and lights if required for your event. They are appropriate for weddings, parties, and concerts. They play a variety of material ranging from traditional bluegrass, country, folk, and pop oriented acoustic music.

The band is comprised of husband-wife duo Steve and Kristi Nebel and singer-songwriter, guitarist Gen Obata, all residents of Tacoma, WA. They met in 2012 at a local folk music event, quickly became friends, and started jamming and playing music together in 2014. They launched the trio Cosmo’s Dream in early 2015.
Steve and Kristi Nebel (“KNEE-bull”), both raised in the Pacific Northwest, first honed their troubadour skills during ten years on the road performing cover songs in barrooms, and then, in more recent years, performing their own songs in folk clubs and at festivals throughout the United States, the UK, and Japan. Because of their vast and versatile experience, each is an accomplished instrumentalist and vocalist with great facility in many styles of music. Kristi plays bass guitar and Steve plays guitar.

St. Louis native Gen Obata has been writing songs and playing flat-pick guitar since the 1970s. Gen writes songs that are, as Nicky Rossiter of (link hidden) online magazine wrote, “Tales of infidelity, lost love and longing.” He displays “a clean, unshowy flatpicking style,” according to online music critic Ken Renick. Roy Kasten of the St. Louis Riverfront Times described Gen’s exceptional vocals and guitar-playing this way:

“[H]is guitar playing has the emphatic muscularity of Lester Flatt and the illuminating melodicism of Doc Watson, who, like Obata, developed his style on old fiddle tunes transposed to guitar. . . . Over the years, Obata has managed to capture the best of the American singer/songwriter tradition and the best of the country instrumental legacy.”

They sing original tales of foggy-mountain megamalls, trailer-park guns and guitars, big black cats, Iditarod sled dogs, rising rivers, grandmas online, dark days ahead, beautiful beer, and Superman’s dilemma. They provide acoustic musicianship with solo vocals and dynamic three-part harmonies. Steve, Kristi, and Gen have recorded three solo CDs, nine duo CDs, and six band CDs. The trio is currently recording the first Cosmo’s Dream CD and will be touring the United Kingdom in August.

We can bring our own sound and lights. If you provide sound for us we need three microphones and three direct inputs. Gen and Steve can bring their own direct boxes, or you may provide them. Kristi has a direct out (XLR) from her bass amp.