Meet Sofia Wolfson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sofia Wolfson.

Sofia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m an alternative singer-songwriter born and raised in LA. I started playing guitar when I was six, started writing songs when I was nine, and played my first gig freshman year of high school. My dad is a musician too, so I grew up in a very musical household. My ‘baby movie’ I’d watch every day was The Last Waltz, and I made my family call me Emmylou for a whole summer.

I recorded my first album Hunker Down when I was 15. I then recorded an EP the summer after my senior year of high school called Side Effects. I am releasing the follow-up EP Adulting on March 20th. I went to the LA County High School for the Arts for theater, which is where I discovered I didn’t want to be an actor but loved reading the plays.

This led me to be an English Major in college. I’ve played all around at venues like The Bootleg, The Moroccan, Rockwood Music Hall, The Hi Hat, The Sanctuary Santa Monica, The Lost Room, Genghis Cohen, and more, opening for artists like Tom Brosseau, L.A. Salami, and Johanna Samuels. I’m super inspired by a lot of different genres, growing up on everything from 60s rock to soul to folk. Joni Mitchell’s Blue inspired me to want to write music.

Currently, I’m super inspired by female singer-songwriters like Margaret Glaspy, Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Sharon Van Etten, and more. I’ve also lyrically been very inspired by artists I grew up on like Wilco, Radiohead, and Blake Mills.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I definitely dealt with a good amount of stage fright at the beginning. After every gig, I’d pick apart everything I did wrong. I’ve often let my anxiety get in the way of music.

Another big change for me was moving to Boston for school. I had to learn to adjust to new weather, new culture and being away from home for the first time. A lot of songs came out of that time – heard on the new EP Adulting.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment happened pretty recently – I headlined a show at the Bootleg Theater last December. Two of my favorite people and musicians, AO Gerber and Sharon Silver (of The Wild Reeds), opened the show.

I got to play with my band for the first time in a while too which is always way more fun than being solo. I’ve been going to the Bootleg for years, and it’s always been a dream of mine to get to play there. I’ll be returning to the Bootleg on 3/20 for an EP release show.

Contact Info:

• Website: sofiawolfson.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/sofiawolfson
• Facebook: facebook.com/sofiawolfsonmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sofia_wolfson

Image Credit:
Ashley Frangie, Martin Gonzales, Lauren Tepfer, Joel Hasemeyer

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