If you mash-up Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift (sorry, Swifties), and throw in a little country music flair, you’ll get the singer-songwriter sensation known as Naomi Jane. And she’s right here in our backyard.
The 16-year-old winner of the Santa Barbara Teen Star competition has in just a few months skyrocketed into one of the world’s most popular young stars. Her hypnotic song “Lightning” has more than 1 million views on YouTube and the combined streams of her songs total more than 5 million.
Get on the bandwagon now while you can, because Naomi Jane is going to make Santa Barbara even more famous.
Naomi Jane talks about her rapid rise, her songs, her songwriting techniques and her life up until now in the latest episode of the podcast Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina.
Naomi Jane won the Teen Star competition in February and hasn’t stopped since. She protested Santa Barbara Unified School District plans to cut arts and music classes earlier this year and led a rally at the dolphin statue on Cabrillo Boulevard.
A San Marcos High School student, Naomi Jane has also appeared in multiple productions, most recently as Pennywise in “Urinetown.” She currently has a role in “Young Frankenstein” at Santa Barbara City College.
As a singer she has a three-octave mezzo-soprano vocal range, putting her in the category of people like Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert.
Santa Barbara has had its share of talented singers. Katy Perry partially grew up here and spent a semester at Dos Pueblos High School. Jack Johnson is a legend. Bands such as Toad the Wet Sprocket and Dishwalla arose out of Santa Barbara, just to name a few.
Naomi Jane recently performed her song “Tacobell” (she loves the restaurant) and sang the national anthem at the city of Goleta’s Fourth of July Independence Day drone show. She has more than dozen songs with music videos on YouTube and is all the buzz among young audiences on streaming platforms and social media.
Naomi Jane talks about every aspect of her career and songs in this 75-minute podcast. Molina and Naomi Jane are joined by her mother Michele Voigt for the conversation. Voigt discusses managing her daughter’s career through the rise to stardom.
In this episode, Naomi Jane sings six songs” “Lightning,””Tacobell,” “Passenger Princess,” “Like, Like, I Love You,” “Press Send” and “Mr. Incognito.”
All of her music videos are filmed in Santa Barbara, where viewers can spot the Santa Barbara Mission, Cabrillo Boulevard, the New Vic Theatre, Montecito and other spots. You can even catch her dancing with Father Larry Gosselin.
She explains what the songs mean, why she wrote them, and what’s next for the high school student. She plans to start touring, and has a full-length album planned for release early next year. She’s performing in Seattle at Madame Lou’s at The Crocodile on Aug. 2.
“It’s pretty nice to be me right now,” Naomi Jane said. “I love my life right now.”
Check out more clips below: