i like you.

© Tim McG Photo & Video

Meet and greet the members of i like you.!

photo courtesy of Jayme Halbritter Photography

WENDY SOLEIL

Wendy Soleil is the lead singer and songwriter in the Minneapolis based chamber-pop, world-fusion band i like you. Wendy started i like you. in 2009 to explore her penchant for songwriting, while expressing her joy and mastery of her vocals and devoted love of the ukulele.  Long before she ventured onto the local music scene, a young Soleil was delighting audiences with her piano compositions and song-bird vocals.  Wendy received classical training in piano and voice, which earned her many honors and a coveted spot in the MN All-State Women’s Choir.  She was also deeply involved in the choir programs at several Universities (Moorhead State, U of MN, U of Texas) during her undergrad years. Strongly influenced by the sass and power of the great female jazz vocalists Billie Holiday, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, and equally enamored by female singers from the funk, pop, punk and folk genres, Wendy has crafted a sound that is uniquely exuberant, sexy and inviting.  Soleil presents an open-hearted honesty in her lyrics that is both reflective and transcendent.

photo courtesy of Steve Peterson Photography

KAREN KOZAK

A native of Saint Paul, MN, Karen Kozak (née Krueger) has been hard at work for over 10 years teaching and performing regionally. Currently she is a McNally Smith graduate student studying violin performance with Randy Sabien while also applying her work to the viola. She received her bachelor of music from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point where she studied violin with Steve Bjella and viola with Dee Martz. She can be found performing with a number of local groups including i like you., One Fast Move…, and The Minnesota Bluegrass Band. In addition, she is the founding violist of the Supertet string quartet and holds the position of principal viola in the Mississippi Valley Orchestra.  Her ability on both instruments and in many different styles make studio sessions and guest appearance a highlight of her creative career.  By day she is tackling her eighth year as a teacher in the Robbinsdale School district and enjoys her dream job of teaching middle school orchestra at Robbinsdale Middle School while being a freelance private violin and viola teacher at home.

photo courtesy of Tim McGuire Photography

ARTHUR BEGLEY

Having grown up surrounded by music and theatre, Arthur Begley continues to explore the many art forms our world allows.  Hailing from Vermillion, SD and a resident of Minneapolis, MN for over ten years, Arthur has always been involved in creative and unique ways to express himself.  At age ten armed with his fathers acoustic guitar (that he still plays) and with the encouragement of his family, he studied the craft and listened to a wide variety of music that would be the inspiration he needed to make his own path.  With musical tastes ranging from Yes to Bela Fleck and years of vocal training, Arthur continues to push the limits of musical interpretation with distinctive solos, creative songwriting and beautiful harmonies.  Arthur’s current musical projects include the band Hyentyte (progressive funk rock) which he joined in 2006, i like you., muscle fork (an acoustic jazz odyssey) and After the rain (an acoustic singer songwriter duo).

photo courtesy of Tim McGuire Photography

BOBBY JOHN

(bio coming soon!)

TAYLOR DONSKEY

Born in Minnesota,  raised in Wisconsin, Taylor Donskey is a eclectic specimen.  Raised on New Wave and 80’s pop; an upright bass player you would think him not. A graduate of the University of Minnesota music program he loves sound and a healthy dose of antics. Jazz and Funk inform his musical upbringing and a wide smile greets all those who meet him.

DAVID BOOSE

(bio coming soon!)

CJ VANDERPOLL

(bio coming soon!)