Sonya Cotton

San Francisco-based Sonya Cotton was born and raised in the East, where as a child, she actively pursued dance, theater, voice, and visual arts. These interests eventually led her to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY where she majored in Studio Art. It was at Vassar that Sonya began writing and performing her own songs. Her first collection of songs became the 2005 8-song release "Baltimore Trees," arranged and recorded by fellow student and bandmate Chris Kiehne. Following graduation Sonya traveled, and lived in New York City, Philadelphia, and Berkeley, CA, all the while writing and performing the songs that would become her next album: "Out of the Ocean" Her journey ended in San Francisco, where Sonya only intented to stay for a few months. A few months extended to two years and counting, due to the welcoming artistic community, the beauty of the city and it's surroundings, and a close-knit group of friends that in time has become family. Shortly after arriving in San Francisco Sonya met the musicians that would become her bandmates: Anna Perlmutter (vocals, violin,) Nick Stargu (classical guitar,) Gabe Dominguez (vocals, flute,) and Sean Jones (bass guitar.) Labeled "The Frida Khalo of songwriting," Sonya's compositions are deeply personal, drawing upon her dreams, family, and love; they often come from a place of profound reverence for the natural world and the creatures of the earth. In singing about wild spaces (rivers, woods, mountains,) and the animals that inhabit them, she hopes to bring herself and others in touch with the sacredness of these spaces, and to contemplate and critique our culture's compulsion to exploit and destroy these creatures and spaces. Throughout "Red River" Sonya also explores the destruction that can occur interpersonally, between family members, and in loving relationships.

@ San Francisco, USA
♫ Acoustic, Folk, Pop
♥ Red River (mp3)
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▸ Official Website