Sonya Kitchell’s rare gift may result from some fortuitous conspiracy of genetics and environment, or it may be the manifestation of something more mystical—but there’s certainly no denying her exceptional talent. Kitchell is an eloquent songwriter, dazzling singer and old soul who just happens to be 17 years of age.

This budding artist’s extraordinary gift lies not just in her songs and singing but in the decisions she makes within both realms. To hear where Kitchell chooses to go, one moment to the next, in any of these songs is to experience, all at once, her taste, her preternatural musical savvy and her depth—as in deep. Once the novelty of this has worn off, the listener can simply soak up the myriad pleasures and insights of Kitchell’s debut album, Words Came Back to Me (released April 4, 2006 by Velour and Starbucks Hear Music), because this artist’s achievements are without caveat—Kitchell is the real deal, pure and simple.

“My whole life I’ve been a sponge for everything around me,” Kitchell says. “I soak it up, and I want to take as much of it as I can and make it part of myself. When I listen to something that I think is amazing, rather than think, ‘I could never do that,’ I think, ‘I want to do that, and I’m going to do that.’”

Sonya’s experience with deeply felt self-expression dates back to the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, when the twelve year old came home from school struggling to cope with the enormity of what had happened that morning. She jotted down some therapeutic writing in her journal, and as she wrote, a melody formed in her head—a song was born. She sang it for her mother and a local folk artist who told her, “People need to hear this song, Sonya.” At that moment, making music, which had been “a thing I did,” she says, became her vocation and passion.

In 2004, Sonya was spotted by Velour, who began work as her manager and record label. She recorded and released the EP Cold Day for Velour and began performing live with her talented band, sharing bills with such artists as Taj Mahal, Tuck & Patty and Shawn Colvin. In 2005, she recorded her first full-length album with co-producers Steve Addabbo (Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega) and Jeff Krasno. As advance copies made the industry rounds, Words Came Back To Me so impressed the principals of Starbucks Hear Music that Words will be Hear Music’s second-ever release on their Hear Music™ Debut CD series, making the record available in all Starbucks Company-operated locations in the U.S and Canada.

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