Oakland (California), USA - Renee Asteria’s nine-song, self-released debut album, a mix of pop/rock, light jazz, and quirky reggae, has a true global appeal. Her voice fuses Joan Baez’s vocal range, Joni Mitchell’s lyrical phrasing with the smoothness of Sade’s timber. Renée Asteria wants to use her many talents and help improve the distribution of resources locally and internationally. To tackle this overwhelming dream, the first baby steps are launching Asteria Records and Foundation while finishing her Masters Degree in Public Health (UC Berkeley). The first project she is currently working on is starting multimedia demo production and media literacy programs in public schools to provide more opportunities for young people. She is currently seeking collaborators for this project.

Renée Asteria is independently distributing and promoting her music in the US, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia and Europe. She is currently touring the West Coast, gigging as a soloist, with the band WE’A’DEM and with Pacific Vibrations, an established Californian roots reggae band. Renee Asteria is also part of Anyway you want it, a compilation of San Francisco Bay Area artists (featuring Suga-T, Femi and more) promoted and distributed in the US by Hitman Records, KJAMZ Records and the Globe Institute of Recording. She foresees releasing a second album next year to promote during tour of Europe in the summer of 2006.

Renée Asteria’s CD can be purchased online www.shop.asteriarecords.info or www.cdbaby.com/asteria. It is also available at Amoeba Record stores and the Music Store (San Francisco) and at Tower Records.