Sonya Kitchell
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09/24/08 Higher Ground South Burlington, VT*
Discography
09/25/08 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA* 09/26/08 The Big Easy Portland, ME* 09/27/08 Colony Cafe Woodstock, NY* 09/30/08 Iron Horse Northampton, MA* 10/01/08 Bowery Ballroom New York* 10/02/08 8X10 Baltimore, MD* 10/03/08 World Cafe Live Philadelphia, PA* 10/04/08 IOTA Club & Cafe Arlington, VA* 10/05/08 Mountain Stage Charleston, WV* 10/07/08 Club Cafe Pittsburgh, PA* 10/08/08 The Music Mill Indianapolis, IN* 10/09/08 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI* 10/10/08 High Noon Saloon Madison, WI* 10/11/08 Schubas’ Chicago, IL* 10/12/08 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN* 10/15/08 The Fox Theatre And Cafe Boulder, CO* 10/16/08 The Walnut Room Denver, CO* 10/17/08 Belly Up Aspen, CO 10/18/08 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT 10/21/08 Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA* 10/22/08 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR* 10/24/08 The Independent San Francisco, CA* 10/26/08 Roxy Theatre Los Angeles, CA* 10/27/08 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA* 10/28/08 Club Congress Tucson, AR* 10/30/08 The Parish Austin, TX* 11/01/08 Smith’s Olde Bar Atlanta, GA* 11/02/08 3rd & Lindsley Nashville, TN* * with The Slip
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Sonya Kitchell had the world at her feet, moving 100,000 copies of her debut album, Words Came Back, and appearing on national television ("Late Night With David Letterman", "Craig Ferguson", CNN) and radio (NPR's "All Things Considered").
She was 16.
She's now a little older, being 19 and cutting her sophomore album, This Storm this September 2nd on Velour/Decca Records.
Although I am not familiar with her earlier works, having read all her accomplishments, I was rather impressed. Especially because I have always known Decca Records, in the US anyway, as a major player in the popular jazz music field.
The first thing you'll noticed about Kitchell's voice, is that it very saucy. Her songs seems to be observation of and about people she knows.
"Here To There" is about someone that Kitchell is in love with, but he lives across the sea. You do get a sense of it by listening to the lyrics: "Your sun rises, mine is sunset/I promise you I won't forget ... How do we get ourselves from here to there?" At 18 when she wrote that, she seems mature enough to accept that she doesn't know what the future will bring, even stating that "there are many years to go".
She seems to really like that song, as it was hand-picked to be the lead single from This Storm. Personally, I think there are some better and catchier song on the album, like "Every Drop" (I really dig this song) and "Fire".
Naturally, being a folk-pop singer-songwriter, her storytelling songs are with the best of them. You wonder about some of the stories behind songs like "Soldier's Lament" (which is sung through the eyes of a soldier, talking to his son).
Again, impressed at this very young musician. If she's this good, at this age, one can only imagine what she would be like at the prime of her songwriting career.
Currently, Kitchell will be setting out on tour to promote This Storm, out next Tuesday. She's been recently been performing live with legend Herbie Hancock (Dave just recently talked about Herbie on our last podcast). Her upcoming tour will be with The Slip, additional details on site.w♥m.
PS, this is a true story, but I fell asleep listening to The Storm on my iPod with headphones. As I was drifting off, I was thinking how Kitchell sounds so much like Beth Orton on certain songs - that I had a dream seeing Orton doing a soundcheck in St Paul. I had an awkward moment trying to find a W♥M card to give to Orton, and then left to buy bread & a bottle of whiskey. There was a Republican convention outside so I made it to a crowded white-sand beach (which is funny as the Mississippi doesn't offer that beach environment) and then I woke up, with my headphones still clinging to my head with Kitchell on repeat. Anyway, weird dream.
