Sonya Kitchell

Born March 1, 1989, Sonya Kitchell grew up in Massachusetts as a jazz-inflected singer and songwriter drawing chiefly on Joni Mitchell’s Hejira- and Mingus-era work alongside Rickie Lee Jones. On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, the twelve-year-old turned the shock of that day’s terrorist attacks into her first song by transforming journal entries into melody. Local coverage of the piece earned her a single appearance at the Iron Horse Music Hall, after which she assembled the Sonya Kitchell Band for steady touring in 2002.

Two Student Music Awards from DownBeat magazine recognized one of her earliest compositions in 2003, the same year the Kennedy Center admitted her to its workshop for emerging jazz composers. Velour Records, the independent AAA imprint whose roster included Dar Williams and Soulive, signed her and issued the debut EP Cold Day in 2005 under the guidance of Steve Addabbo, known for his work with Suzanne Vega. Addabbo also produced the full-length follow-up Words Came Back to Me, which appeared in spring 2006; a partnership with Starbucks’ Hear Music placed the album in cafés worldwide. Kitchell refined her approach through extensive live work, among them an extended stretch alongside Herbie Hancock, before delivering the 2008 sophomore album This Storm.