Sonya Kitchell

As a child, Sonya Kitchell dreamed of playing music. Having mastered the piano, she moved on to studying voice, and by 10 was working with jazz singers Sheila Jordan and Rebecca Paris. On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, the then-12-year-old's life changed forever when she poured her heart into a notebook, coming up with the song "Cold Day," which she recorded shortly after. The disc made the rounds and soon the youngster was sharing bills with the likes of Taj Mahal, Dar Williams and Susan Tedeschi. By the time her follow-up, Words Came Back to Me was mastered, Starbuck's signed her for their Hear Music Debut CD series. Sonya's soulful, liquid voice flows over understated arrangements that incorporate elements of jazz, classic soul and folk, sounding like an old soul's rather than that of a teenager.