Sonia Rutstein

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Sonia Rutstein is an American artist (music & lyrics, vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboard, producer, painting) who founded the folk-power-pop band disappear fear together with her sister Cindy Rutstein in 1987 . The guitarist Howard Markman was later added to the original line-up. Her lyrics often have progressive political themes, but are also about love and her life in Baltimore. SONiA is active not only in its songs for peace, international understanding, for the rights of homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals ( LGBT rights ), but also initiates and supports corresponding actions.

Career

At 17, Sonia Rutstein won the WKTK Radio Song Contest ("Best of Baltimore"). In 1987 Sonia Rutstein worked at the Baltimore Center for Victims of Sexual Assault, which was looking for a new name. Sonia suggested "The Disappear Fear Center" because she strongly believes that releasing victims from their fear is one of the greatest challenges and has a core role in working with victims of domestic violence.

After the proposed name was not adopted for the Baltimore Center, Sonia and her sister Cindy decided to use the title "disappear fear" as the band name and program for their newly formed music duo. The original name of the duo should be THE FRANK SISTERS in memory of Anne Frank, based on their Jewish-European roots .

The siblings released 5 albums as a duo. According to their official website, they sold over half a million copies of their albums by 2009. They market their music through their own label disappear records and in 1994 they signed a contract with Philo / Rounder Records as a band . In 1996, Cindy Frank ended her regular appearances with the band to attend to her growing family. From time to time there are guest appearances by Cindy and her son Dylan Visvikis (harmony singing, piano).

From 1996 to 2004 Sonia Rutstein started a solo career as SONiA, which took her through the United States and around the globe. She released four excellent albums under her own name and established herself as a compelling, captivating and popular attraction in the world of LGBT , Lilith Fair and alternative folk scenes thanks to her passion for her subjects, the honesty of her lyrics, her warm, positive and selected Mixture of folk, pop, rock, blues, world music and Americana.

In October 2005 Sonia Rutstein (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica & piano) reformed the band disappear fear with Laura Cerulli (percussion & vocals) and Angela Edge (bass guitar & trumpet).

Among the most important events were her appearances at the March on Washington for Woman and Concert for Peace at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC with Peter, Paul and Mary (March 2003). Her stage life took her around the world. She has given concerts in Israel and Palestine, where she played her concert in a bomb shelter during the Second Lebanon War, in the Fiji Islands and at the Sydney Opera House, Australia.

On the SONiA & disappear fear album Blood, Bones & Baltimore (2010) with blues and Americana sounds, the disappear fear orchestra plays with SONiA (songwriter, lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano), Laura Cerulli (percussion, vocals), Howard Markman (electric guitar), Seth Kibel (clarinet, tenor sax), Michael Bowie (upright bass), Helen Hausmann (violin), CiNDY (vocals), Dylan Visvikis (vocals, piano).

On July 4th 2011, the American Independence Day, she and her sister released the CD Get Your Phil with 10 songs by Phil Ochs , whose Topical Songs SONiA interprets masterfully.

On September 17, 2013 ( Occupy Wall Street ) their 17th CD (Broken Film) was released with the pre-released song THE BANKER.

On April 7, 2016, a solo concert by SONiA was released as a double live CD, which was recorded in 2014 in Maximal Rodgau (Germany). This DoCD was voted one of the best 5 live CDs of 2016 by the Association of Independent Musicians of the United States (IMA Independent Music Award 2016). At the Folk Alliance Conference 2017 in Kansas City, USA, SONiA was named "Spirit of Folk".

On September 8, 2018, SONiA performed with many international artists at the benefit concert "A SONG FOR NUDEM DURAK" in Hamburg. Nudem Durak , a Kurdish musician, was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison in Turkey in 2016 for singing her songs in her mother tongue (suspected terrorism). Rutstein's composition "A Voice for Nudem Durak" will be released on the CD "By My Silence" in November 2018. The title of the CD and the song of the same name "By My Silence" are based on the famous words of Pastor Martin Niemöller .

Rutstein's tour of the Middle East in 2006 led to the establishment of Guitars for Peace, a non-profit foundation that supplies musical instruments to children in war-torn countries. Of their songs, which are downloaded directly from the Internet, 18% of sales go to Welthungerhilfe .

Sonia Rutstein is co-author of the musical "small house no secrets" (premiered in March 2019 in Baltimore) and writes film music (TV series, documentaries, feature films such as the children's film "Frog & Wombat - Detective Kids - The director at the Track").

Discography

Disappear fear

SONiA

  • 1997: Almost Chocolate
  • 2002: Me, Too
  • 2003: Live at the Down Home
  • 2004: No Bomb is Smart (Grammy nominated)

SONiA disappear fear

  • 2016: SONiA disappear fear - LiVE at MAXiMAL (DoCD, recorded in Maximal Rodgau 2014)
  • 2017: Single Abraham (in response to the 2016 presidential election)
  • 2018: By My Silence
  • 2019: small house no secrets - composer's cut (music from the musical of the same name; voc., P - SONiA)
  • 2020: Single Ghost of the Kangaroo (proceeds to fight climate change)
  • 2020: LOVE OUT LOUD (collection of own songs from 30 years of band history)

SONiA & disappear fear

  • 2005: df05 Live (with Laura & Angela)
  • 2007: Tango (Grammy nominated)
  • 2010: Blood, Bones & Baltimore (Grammy nominated)

Benefit sampler

  • What´s that I hear? The Songs of Phil Ochs (1998)
  • Human Right Campaign
  • Lesbian Favorites: Woman like us
  • Out Loud: Gay & Lesbian Human

relationship

  • Father Harald "Harry" Rutstein, entrepreneur, was the first person in modern times to travel the original Marco Polo route from Venice to China and is the founder of the Marco Polo Foundation.
  • "Aunt" Harriett Rutstein gave her nephew Robert Zimmermann aka Bob Dylan her first music lessons.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rutstein, Sonia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century