In the beginning, inspiration was found on the car radio, listening incessantly to The Monkees Greatest Hits on the record player and watching lots of cool stuff on TV--not to mention the commercials! Amidst all the other activities that fill a child's life, Benna created a bond with music that would forever be tested, but never broken!

The New York native picked up the guitar while studying acting in London and never put it down. Upon her return to the states, finishing off one more year at Sarah Lawrence College, Benna joined a trio that performed regularly at the campus coffee house.

After graduation, she moved to New York City, became a waitress and persued an acting career. Bleaching her hair blonde and experimenting with her identity caused a little bit of chaos and confusion but music always proved the best distraction and eventually became her sole focus. Not that acting no longer interested her, but the music world was polar opposite, providing her with friends and experiences she had not come across til now.

When Sin-e opened on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, Benna started playing there on a regular basis. A lot of great talent like Jeff Buckley, Paula Cole, Sara McLachlan and even Sinead O'Conner passed through the intimate cafe over time. Drawing increasingly more attention, people started requesting a tape to buy so her multi-instrumentalist/homeboy Judson Wright offered to help make one. After holing themselves up in King Judson's House of Noise for nine months they eventually emerged with twelve songs affectionately dubbed Tunnel Tunes for the Lincoln Tunnel and Port Authority Bus Terminal tunnel--right where she lived and remained for several years.

Tunnel Tunes [UnderGirl/1994] received critical acclaim in CMJ Futures, NY Press and the Village Voice, amongst others. Lo-fi and luscious, CMJ Futures praised the tape for the "pure and simple strength of Cohen's own alluring melodies."

For her next offering, Greetings From Port Authority [Evil Teen, 1996] Benna borrowed fellow musicians from NYC bands-- Alice Cohen from Die Monster Die (bass), Greg Griffith from Vitapup (lead guitar, producing) and Garry Sullivan (drums), and let her new collection of songs come alive with a real band.  The highlight of working with a band was getting to play a string of shows (Benna on electric guitar) at a bunch of NYC and regional clubs including CBGB's. Seventeen Magazine enthusiastically praised the release as "Loaded with pop hooks;" and CMJ assured that "when it comes to infectious melodies, Benna's got them in spades."

The album title--inspired as always by her home turf--was also heavily inspired by the work of graphic artist Geoff McFetridge. Discovering his award-winning CD-Rom Greetings from China Town as an insert in ID Magazine, Benna was immediately impressed and approached McFetridge to do the artwork for her CD. At the time, McFetridge was working for the Beastie Boys as art director for Grand Royale Magazine. Benna begged him to do the job and he accepted, connecting their imaginations with beautiful results.

With influences too numerous to name, from simple acoustic stuff to pop, hip-hop, punk and hardcore, Benna managed to fuse together a record with her most favorite stuff. The song "Sleep"-- penned by friend and fellow songwriter Kevin Salem--holds a special place in Benna's heart because, as she recalls, "I was the first person he played it for and i just knew someday I'd like to record it."

After playing with the band, Benna set out on her solo-acoustic US tour, doing all kinds of shows--punk, all-ages, coffeehouses, clubs, radio stations and in-stores. She discovered the Mid-West where she made many friends and fans. Meeting great people and seeing how the rest of the country lived, while spreading the music, was the highlight of her career.

A couple of years of shows with the band and solo primed Benna for a more challenging and sophisticated approach to production. Following a show at Fez, Benna met producer Louie Lino who took an immediate liking to her music. Offering to put some songs to tape, the two fused a creative partnership culminating with Benna's third release What's Meant To Be [Adult Swim Records].

Lino's studio on Bleecker Street and Broadway served as a lab of sorts, where they would flesh out ideas, venturing out on a limb creatively, utilizing drum loops, programming, indulging in synth lines and layered vocal tracks to create a lush production style. Benna made her contribution more thoroughly with electric guitar, bass and keyboards. Taking track by track as individual entities, What's Meant To Be was allowed to breathe easily and unpredictably.

Through Lino, Benna befriended Ira, Matthew and Daniel from Nada Surf--quickly becoming mutual musical admirers. Ira lent his drums on a few tracks as did Paul Garisto (Psych Furs, Jesse Malin, Iggy Pop). Eventually, life's demands took over and the project was abandoned incomplete in the 11th hour.

With 14 songs in all, Benna contacted friend Jeff Nelson (Minor Threat) at dischord to catch up and let him know about the stuff she had for listening. Jeff and Benna became friendly over time after he caught her shows at Iota in Arlington, VA. Jeff loved what he heard and offered to put the songs out, as is, on his own boutique label Adult Swim, which had also put out early Girls vs. Boys. Working with someone like Nelson truly appealed to Benna, who was determined not to let the songs languish in obscurity; so in January, 2003, they released What's Meant To Be on Adult Swim, followed by extensive touring and a move from NYC to Morgantown, West Virginia and eventually back to NYC. Benna now happily makes her home in Ridgewood, Queens--Go Mets!

Sidelined with a nasty foot fracture for about a year, Benna is excited to be getting back to work on her new projects including a kids CD and other good stuff.