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sofia

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"Kurt magazine"

Acoustic and inspired, raw and ready, these ladies make music that will shake your hips and move your lips. - Kurt magazine


"A touch of Salt"

A VANCOUVER-BASED duo, whose music has been compared with that of Norah Jones and TracyChapman, are due to appear at The Band Room in Farndale.
Salt [edit: now Sofia] – also known as Allison Russell and Awna Teixera – are veterans of the alternative country music community from their time with the Be Good
Tanyas and Po’Girl.
The talented twenty somethings play banjo, guitar, clarinet, accordion, gutbucket and electric bass, pennywhistle, bodhran, harmonica, washboard and kazoo.
Their appearance on September 22 is part of an international tour performing tracks from their debut
album and the back catalogue of Po’Girl. - Kirkbymoorside Today


"Name game did not detract from wonderful music"

Salt: St Bonaventure’s
THERE seems to be a conspiracy
among Vancouver girl singer-songwriters to confuse their fans.
First we had the incredibly successful Be Good Tanyas, out of which came Trish Klein who formed a secondary project called Po’Girl with Diona Davis, Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira.
Now Russell and Teixeira have
formed their own side project, Salt,
although they have now, as they
announced, decided to rename
themselves Sofia. Russell and Teixeira play almost any instrument they can get their hands on, and the stage looked like they’d looted a music store.
Actually it wasn’t all their stuff, for
they’d brought with them three-quarters of the Chicago band JT And The Clouds who opened with a spellbinding set in a most unusual style that had elements of old-style country but owed just as much to soul.
Salt/Sofia opened with an a capella
song that demonstrated just how
wonderfully their superb and quite
different voices blend in harmony, and proceeded to play a set that ranged freely across almost every musical boundary, ranging from African rhythms in Burning By Our Hands, impassioned ballads like Better Luck, lots of songs sung with gospelly fervour, some back-porch country sounds and not a little old style jazz-blues. The real tour-de-force was Partisan, stunningly sung in English and French by Allison Russell to a very insistent beat.
The instruments all got used –
including an accordion, guitars, banjos, electric bass, a gutbucket bass (a ‘hi-tech’ version of thay old skiffle essential, the tea-chest bass) – and for much of the set they were also joined by the multi-instrumentalists of the Clouds.
It was good so see so many musicians enjoying themselves but I can’t imagine that even they enjoyed this mesmerising show quite as much as we did.
Rating: (4 out of 5 stars) - Bristol Evening Post


"Crazy tour bus is packed with mix of old and new"

FEMALE FOLKSTERS: Sofia equals Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira

THE significance of the music you listen to when you are growing up is nowhere more evident than in the eclectic offerings of North American acts Sofia and JT and the Clouds. From classical piano to Bob Marley, to blues, jazz and hiphop, they¡¯ve been raised on it all ¨C and it shows. Somewhere they each discovered a love for old-time Americana country which allows them all to meld successfully.
The two bands, which could loosely be described as a female folk duo from Canada, and a male Chicago soul trio, are piled into a little tour
busmaking its way to aWestcountry arts centre via a long list of off-the-beaten track UK venues, aiming to alert audiences here to the good-time feel of their music.
On stage they are performing as two separate entities, but also as a collective, improvising and fusing the results of their diverse backgrounds.
Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira of Sofia (previously called Salt) are already known by UK folk fans as lead singers and writers with the
four-woman folksters Po¡¯Girl, but this side project allows them to step outside their comfort zone.
¡°It¡¯s quite hard to pigeonhole us. We like to take the old and make it new,¡± explains Allison, a talented multi-instrumentalist. ¡°I grew up around a lot of classical music, and I wasn¡¯t introduced to more modern stuff until later in my life, so my
friends have influenced me a lot. Half of my family are from Scotland and I played in a Celtic band for a couple of years too.¡±
Awna became addicted to the songs of Bob Marley as a child, forming the basis for hermusical
journey. Together they experiment, putting together songs as a strong partnership. An album, No Shame, is ready to roll but as yet has no UK
release date ¨C but Allison hastens to add they should have copies available at their gigs.
¡°I¡¯m not a fan of the download thing ¨C it¡¯s so detached,¡± says Allison. ¡°I like to buy my records
from musicians off the stage ¨C the physical CD with artwork and photos and lyrics ¨C so that¡¯s what
we do.
¡°We are hoping to get some more shipped out because they¡¯ve been selling really well and we¡¯re down to the last six.¡± - Western Morning News


Discography

Salt ep (2006)
No Shame (2007)

Photos

Bio

sofia (formerly salt) has been in waiting for years. crossing paths again and again, these two travellin' runaways finally stopped long enough to introduce themselves.

alli russell meet awna teixeira, awna teixeira meet alli russell- both skilled mutli-instrumentalists, and compelling songwriters -- it's hard to take it all in once they open their mouths. with haunting harmonies, and lyrics like they've been here before, they sing together as though they've been doing it all their lives.

the music they make is hard to categorize - call it 21st century roots. they are "folk" in the way that edith piaf, ma rainey, elizabeth cotten, and billy holiday are folk -- modern torch bearers of an ongoing and vital tradition.

barely two years old, sofia has already toured extensively, they've played shows in canada , the usa, italy, switzerland, germany, denmark, mexico, and australia on the strength of their debut five song ep "salt," available through festival distribution. they had an impressive first north american season playing highly acclaimed festivals such as vancouver, calgary, winnipeg, south country fair (fort mcloud, alberta), gimly (manitoba), mission (b.c.) and canada's oldest music festival "blue skies" in ontario.

they spent august 2006 holed up in an old farm house in eastern ontario, the century family farm, recording their first full length album "no shame", with jason mercer and ana egge at the engineering helm. they had the pleasure of sharing the experience with some incredible people. The album features, along with ana egge and jason mercer - luther wright, chris brown, sarah harmer, shaun brodie, john raham, and don kerr. "no shame" is due for release in the uk and north america in early 2008.

in september they worked closely with one of chicago's finest bands, jt and the clouds along with fellow canadian film maker, amy kazymerchyk, making and documenting music and "life on the road" while on tour at the international blues to bop festival in lugano, switzerland, in the swiss alps, germany and the uk.

currently the ladies are super busy touring world wide with their other band, po' girl releasing another new album "home to you."

SoFiA: General Info

Band Members:

ALLISON RUSSELL - grew up in montreal - she's been in love with music and languages from an early age. as an adult she has played internationally with many amazing and highly acclaimed musicians. feeling the most at home on the road, this is just the beginning... with a smooth, sweet voice that hits you like a wave when she digs in, she plays the clarinet/banjo/guitar/bodhran/penny whistle, and a little piano.

AWNA TEIXEIRA - growing up in toronto she spent most of her time in her head or telling some extravagant story. playing a shit box organ to entertain the thousands. as an adult finally finding her place with music she has played with amazing musicians all over. also feeling sanity on the road, can't ever say no. playing the accordion/harmonica/gutbucket bass/electric bass/banjo/guitar/washboard/ukulele.