Reviews VOX
JazzTimes
The apex of my creative abilities at age 15 was a hackneyed, 500-word essay on the use of symbolism in "The Catcher in the Rye." Nobody else, at least within my high school circle, was up to much either, beyond coping with the daily anxieties of adolescence. After all, what...
Sweet at 16
Boston Globe Magazine
Sonya Kitchell has just brought down the house at Northampton's Iron Horse Music Hall with a pounding rendition of the blues classic "Moanin'", in a duet with gospel singer Moonlight Davis. Earlier, as Davis was standing by the door tapping his foot to the late-December show, which featured his stepson,...
Kitchell Quickly Matures with a Sultry Sound
Boston Globe
In a pop music industry inundated wtih poseurs, wannabes, and the marginally skilled, Sonya Kitchell barely cuts through the clutter. She's a virtual unknown. But her talent simply can't be denied.
Witness this scene from a recent concert in New York. Kitchell walked onstage as the opening act for...
If her voice seems worldly wise, well, she's learned from the best
Los Angeles Times
And given Sonya Kitchell's prodigal skills, how much does it matter that the singer-songwriter is just 16?
The first question that usually pops up when Sonya Kitchell's voice comes pouring out of a stereo is the last one she wants to hear: "She's how old?" That's understandable. Such warm,...
Words Came Young
Relix
Normally, a 16-year-old singer/songwriter would be considered precocious for writing an album of beyond-her-years songs, but "Words Came Back to Me" would be a remarkable debut, even if she were twice her age. Raised on a 40-acre farm in western Massachusetts by artist parents, Sonya Kitchell was lucky enough to...
People Are Talking About: Sonya Kitchell
Teen Vogue
With folksy vocals and world-weary tales, Sonya Kitchell seems wise beyond her seventeen years on her full-length debut, Words Came Back to Me (Velour/Starbucks Hear Music). However, she says it's her youth that makes her sound so universally appealing. "Teenagers feel things so intensely," she explains. "People forget what it...
What to Do This Month: #1
Redbook
MAKE A NEW FRIEND: Sonya Kitchell packs a powerful vocal punch on her sultry debut, Words Came Back to Me, belting out folksy blues numbers she penned herself. Extra perk: Kitchell's CD will be available in record stores and Starbucks locations nationwide.
GL Spotlight: Sonya Kitchell
Girl's Life
Rhymes With...Mitchell. As in, Joni, Sonya's folk-American idol. Except, guess who didn't show up to her own tribute concert.
Jazz, sultry singer Sonya Kitchell, on the brink of 17, has been likened to Norah Jones. But she prefers the comparison to her idol, the legendary songstress Joni Mitchell. Sonya...
"Words Came Back to Me"
The Washington Post
If Sonya Kitchell benefits from inordinate (and doubtless glowing) media exposure in coming months, you can't blame it entirely on her youth. Sure, even by precocious pop-star standards, this 16-year-old singer-songwriter is an overachiever. She has already composed 100-plus songs, if her rapidly bulging press kit can be believed, and...
Weekend Journal - Music
The Wall Street Journal
In popular music, the 17-year-old singer-songwriter and guitarist Sonya Kitchell writes folk-pop that isn't that far from Norah Jones or Suzanne Vega territory. So it's no surprise that Steven Adobo, who has worked with folksingers like Ms. Vega and Loudon Wainwright, co-produced Ms. Kitchell's debut album, "Words Cam Back to...
Sonya Kitchell- "Words Came Back to Me"
Billboard
In the gently clipping "Think of You," Kitchell melodiously muses, "You're like a breath of fresh air," which is an apt description of her rookie outing of folky, rootsy originals. At 16, Kitchell already possesses the refined elegance of singer/songwriters twice her age. Her songs go deep (the mystery in...
Sonya Kitchell- "Words Came Back to Me"
People Magazine
"My body quivers with anticipation for what lies ahead," purrs singer-songwriter Sonya Kitchell on the jazz-fueled "Train," in a sultry manner belying her 17 years. After her remarkably mature and poised debut, what appears to lie ahead for this Massachusetts native is a lot more than the junior prom. With...
Sonya Kitchell- "Words Came Back to Me"
Harp
Pop-inspired, folk-jazz singer-guitarist Sonya Kitchell is an adolescent wonderkind not unlike Fiona Apple and '70s dynamo Janis Ian. This incredible grown-up 16-year-old has smoky and sultry vocal cords, and she plays her six-string with skills that go beyond her experience. She's like a pubescent Norah Jones caught red-handed in her...
Recommends: 10 Best To Do
Marie Claire
Words Came Back to Me: With a voice that's equal parts smoke and honey, 16-year-old singer/songwriter Sonya Kitchell instantly transports you to her after-hours world of jazz and soul. Press play after a long day, and feel the stress slip from your shoulders.
Rising Stars: Sonya Kitchell
One Way Magazine
Next time you stop by a Starbucks to get your java fix, you might want to pick up the tonal tenderness offered by Sonya Kitchell's, Words Came Back to Me. This jazz-trained 16-year old (yes, 16) sings on the wavelength of Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones, uttering lyrics that affect...
Sonya Kitchell: Teen to Reckon With
Paste Magazine
Like many 17-year olds, Sonya Kitchell is easily distracted. "I'm sometimes so in my own world, I wouldn't be surprised if I walked into a wall," she says, giggling. But being a self-proclaimed 'space-case' is where any evidence of her young age ends. If you catch the gifted singer/songwriter with...
Teenage singer-songwriter Sonya Kitchell shows wisdom beyond her years
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Sonya Kitchell has been singing almost all her life. Before she reached her teens, she was leading her own jazz band in clubs, and later, she was singing and strumming her guitar on tour opening for veteran entertainers.
So friends thought Kitchell would have been a...
