Anya Marina

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Always dabbling in this and that—acting, musical theatre, music, improv, comedy -? Anya Marina struggled like any young artist trying to find her calling. After a series of cosmic events unfurled within few short weeks—a friend insisted she sing in his band, a boyfriend gave her a guitar, she mistakenly ended up stranded in the basement of a college radio station—Anya’s musical career took flight.Within months of moving to San Diego for a job as a radio DJ, Anya took a dare and played her first open mic and began writing the songs that would comprise her debut album, Miss Halfway. Anya’s stage show quickly became a must-see event, crowds flocking to see her melancholy rendition of “Someday My Prince Will Come,” juxtaposed with a spot-on impression of her heavily accented Russian mother.For her first release, Exercises In Racketeering (RedRoom Recordings)—a five-song EP showcasing tracks from the full-length—Anya teamed up with good friend Scott Russo (Unwritten Law) on production duties. Miss Halfway is ultimately the result of a whimsical childhood with Russian-Agnostic/ Irish-Catholic parents, a few troublesome boyfriends, and subsequent therapy. The record earned Anya a San Diego Music Award for Best Recording with select tracks ending up on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, as well as the show’s second soundtrack, and MTV’s The Real World.Anya continues to multitask and win over audiences onstage, on the airwaves (9am-2pm) at FM 94/9 in San Diego, and even on screen in the feature-length comedy “100 Girls,” as the eccentric and trichotolomaniacal eyebrow-plucker, Rhonda. You can find her song, “Miss Halfway” on the latest Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack from Hollywood Records.