Sonya Kitchell (born March 1, 1989, in

Ashfield Ashfield may refer to: People * Ashfield (surname) Places Australia * Ashfield, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Municipality of Ashfield, a former local government area in Sydney ** Electoral district of Ashfield, a former electoral dist ...

, MA) is an American singer-songwriter. Kitchell formed her first band and began writing music in 2001. In 2004 Sonya signed with Velour Records and was named the second

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 ...

Hear Music Hear Music was a record label that was founded in 2007 in a partnership between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999. Conce ...

Artist, releasing her first international-selling record, ''

Words Came Back to Me ''Words Came Back to Me'' is the full-length debut album of Sonya Kitchell Sonya Kitchell (born March 1, 1989, in Ashfield, MA) is an American singer-songwriter. Kitchell formed her first band and began writing music in 2001. In 2004 Sonya ...

'' on Velour Records. She has toured globally to Japan, Europe and across the U.S. many times in support of the album. Kitchell has appeared on numerous late-night TV shows, including the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production c ...

'', ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing ...

'', CNN, CBS and garnered rave reviews from the ''

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'', ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', ''

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'' and NPR. She has appeared in venues such as Carnegie Hall and The

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its disti ...

, amongst numerous notable stages around the world. In 2007 she joined forces with

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

, singing on his

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning Joni Mitchell tribute titled '' River: The Joni Letters''. Hancock invited Kitchell to join him on tour, to sing in his band, in support of the record for the following year. That gave her the chance to work alongside such notables as

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

, Joni Mitchell, Milton Nascimento, Chaka Khan,

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, and many more. Shortly after her year spent touring with Hancock, Kitchell released her second album '' This Storm'' in 2008 on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

, produced by Malcolm Burn, in collaboration with renowned rock band, The Slip, to much critical acclaim. In 2009, Kitchell joined forces with long-time friend and collaborator Garth Stevenson, and together they created a collection of string-quartet based music. The album ''

Convict of Conviction A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...

'' was released in 2010, produced by

Stewart Lerman Stewart Lerman is a Bronx born, New York-based, 2x Grammy winning music producer(3x nominated), recording engineer, who has worked with The Roches, Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Patti Smith, Antony and the Johnsons, Angelique Kidjo, Shawn Colv ...

. Over the next year Kitchell explored a more dramatic, cinematic side to her music performing as Sonya Kitchell & The Brooklyn Strings. Her songs have appeared on numerous TV shows and films including '' Perfect Stranger'', ''

Private Practice Private practice may refer to: * Private sector practice ** Practice of law * ''Private Practice'' (TV series), an American medical drama * ''Private Practice'' (album), released in 1978 by Dr. Feelgood {{disambig pt:Private Practice ...

'' and '' The Unit''. She lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, NY and released her latest self-produced album, "

We Come Apart In Modern English, ''we'' is a plural, first-person pronoun. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''we'' has six distinct shapes for five word forms: * ''we'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''us'' and ': the accusative (object ...

" in partnership with " Thirty Tigers" and " Rockwood Music Hall" in January 2016.

Personal life

Kitchell was born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Growing up in

Ashfield, Massachusetts Ashfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Ashfield was first settled in 1743 and was of ...

. She is the daughter of photographer / artist Peter Kitchell, and illustrator Gayle Kabaker and has a younger brother, Max Kitchell.Teen Vogue interview
/ref>

Discography

*''Cold Day'' EP ( Velour Recordings, 2005) *''

'' ( Velour Recordings, 2006) *'' This Storm'' (

, 2008) *''Convict of Conviction'' ( 429 Records, 2010) *''We Come Apart'' (

Relativity Media Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commerciall ...

, 2016)

References

External links

Official Site
* Dye, David
"Sonya Kitchell's Precocious Debut: 'Cold Day'"
''

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

'' radio, Originally aired October 18, 2005. * Gallant, Doug
"Sonya Kitchell is a star on the rise"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', April 28, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchell, Sonya 1989 births Living people American child singers American women singer-songwriters Decca Records artists Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts Guitarists from Massachusetts People from Ashfield, Massachusetts 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American singers