New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Folk-rock singer-songwriter Ashley
Sofia spent her 20s traveling, observing the world around her and noting the similarities in the struggles and victories we all experience. Her new album, Shades of Blue, out today, is an uncompromising take on what she learned about the human condition along the way.
Shades of Blue was recorded in Nashville, though
Sofia grew up in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains where her father - a former merchant marine - taught her the art of storytelling and folk songs on the same guitar he traveled the world with.
Sofia co-produced Shades of Blue with Kenny Baumann, and throughout its 13 tracks she connects the ways we're all a bit different but still quite similar when it comes to navigating the intricacies of our lives.
Replete with a lush string arrangement, the tried-and-true love song "Slowing Down" extols the small treasures of life. "Wasted Time" and "
Blue Lights" express sentiments concerning time spent on the road, and a life lived adapting to circumstances that consistently change. "Tangerine and Blue" and "Blue
Jeans and Blue Eyes" explore momentary and long-lasting romantic situations and how the effects of both can be surprising. "Battlewounds" looks at the way that suffering unites us because we're all a little bit broken;
Parade Magazine says it "gets straight to the heart of how we all should be kinder and more thoughtful."
Wide Open Country premiered "Make You Love Me Too," a neo-western tale of infatuation, written for the feature-length film Goodland. "That Girl is a Rainbow," premiered by The Boot, is a rollicking tale about anybody who's a genuinely good soul being taken for granted.
Haunting and desolate, enhanced by a mesmerizing sitar, "It Was Only A Dream" feels like it could have been taken directly from a desert soundtrack. "Winter Prayer" is a tribute to loved ones, and the ways they can still show up for us long after they're gone. "Adirondack Dreams," premiered by The Bluegrass Situation, encapsulates homesickness and missing all that's shaped you, from the landscape to the people.
Sonically and thematically, "Looking For America" might have been taken from Laurel Canyon's heyday, but the song speaks directly to today's political climate. "Keep Moving On" is an anthem of perseverance, boiling down hard-learned life lessons into three powerful minutes.
Sofia released her debut record, Love and Fury, in 2014, with critical acclaim heralding her as the "21st-century reincarnation of the Laurel Canyon folk-rock sound." After the success of Love and Fury,
Sofia ventured outside the Blue Line of the Adirondack Park and began a new chapter in Nashville, where she still lives and makes music.
Shades of Blue Track Listing:
1. Slowing Down
2. Wasted Time
3. Battlewounds
4. Make You Love Me Too
5. That Girl Is A Rainbow
6. Blue
Jeans And Blue Eyes
7. It Was Only A Dream
8. Tangerine And Blue
9. Winter Prayer
10. Blue Lights
11. Adirondack Dreams
12. Looking For America
13. Keep Moving On
