The following is the third of a three-part series on NAU student musicians.

An average 2-year-old can safely be expected to spend the majority of his or her time crying, rolling around or getting into mischief. This wasn’t the case for junior electronic media and film major Leah Nobel, who at that time used her fireplace as a stage, serenading her family with songs like “Over the Rainbow” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

Nobel said her mother was astonished by the amount of lyrics her daughter knew.

“My mom thought it was crazy I knew so many lyrics because I was only 2-and-a-half,” Nobel said. “I used to sing along to songs with my babysitter, as well.”

Nobel said she had a great grade-school music teacher who urged students to be as musically creative as possible, which led to Nobel’s increased enjoyment and appreciation of music later in life. She sang in both choir and musical theater during middle school, and she received her first guitar, an acoustic Takamine, at age 13.

Nobel composed her first song at 18. Her first show occurred that same year at the Phoenix-based coffee house Mama Java’s. This past August, Nobel flew out to Nashville to record her self-titled debut album with the assistance of Grammy-winning producer/musician Mark Prentice. Upon returning to Arizona, she created her own production company, Serendipity Music.

Nobel describes her jams as “quirky folk pop.” While iTunes labels it as alternative, her music also includes a blues and jazz sound.

“I like her style of music; it is simple, relaxing and easy to listen to,” said Genevieve Clayton, a sophomore photography major and SUN Entertainment programmer. “It’s unique to me because of its originality and how real it is.”

Nobel draws inspiration from a wide variety of subjects and experiences in her everyday life.

“Some of my songs are very personal; they’re about things that happened to me or that I’m currently dealing with,” Nobel said. “Everyone seems to assume musicians write only about themselves, which is completely not true. I’m inspired by everything and am always thinking about potential lyrics I could use in a song.”

These raw, honest and real lyrics have earned her much praise from the NAU student body.

“Leah’s music reminds me of the best parts of Paul Simon, the powerful lyrics of Jagged Little Pill-era Alanis Morissette, and the occasional playfulness of Okkervil River or Belle and Sebastian,” said Casey Reed, a freshman secondary English education major and lead singer of Half Windsor. “She’s really carved out her own niche for herself; she’s not just another girl with a guitar.”

Nobel will be performing at the White Dove Café May 21.