Contemporary jazz composer and guitarist Obiedo had an eclectic musical background during his youth, spent in the Bay Area of San Francisco. The sounds of Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Antonio Carlos Jobim and the imported soul and pop of Motown Records influenced his early musical persona. Probably the greatest influence on his embryonic career, however, was the James Brown revue, whose funky, percussive guitar sound was the platform on which Obiedo built his technique.