Gin Blossoms

Sophie B. Hawkins burst onto the international music scene with her 1992 platinum-selling debut album, Tongues and Tails, which included the indelible hit song Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover, and earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nomination.

The last three decades have brought multiple awards, sold out concerts, appearances on film and television, performances with some of the best known names in the business, a documentary feature, a critically-lauded tour-de-force performance as Janis Joplin in the nationally-touring play Room 105, songs appearing in hit films and TV shows, and five more albums, including Whaler, which featured the record-breaking longest-running single in Billboard Adult Contemporary chart history, the Number One hit, As I Lay Me Down. Much more than just a singer, Sophie writes all of her own songs, is a multi-instrumentalist, and has been fully involved in every aspect of the production of her records herself, from background vocals and playing her own instruments, to engineering and production of her albums.  She has proved an enduring artist with a fierce commitment to artistic integrity while both constantly evolving, and remaining steadfastly true to her own authentic history and experience which connects her to her fans at the very deepest levels.

“The passions, strength, and spiritual beauty that your music and performance possess is something I respect deeply, look up to, and after my 29-year long journey of survival in darkness, I am so grateful for your own courage, strength, and honesty which helps those of us who are battling our own ghosts and demons from the past.”  – Shanda, Massachusetts, USA

I listen to your music whenever I feel I am alone because you make me feel like I am not. I listen to your music when I feel I need to be strong because you make me feel strong. – Jill, Michigan, USA

Sophie’s interest in music started as a four-year-old obsessed with drums. Her love of music and the need to connect with and through it came into her consciousness as early as second grade. “I really remember this moment so well,” Sophie reminisces. “I was living in New York, listening to Bob Dylan and I put on my father’s dark sunglasses and I started to cry underneath them. I said to myself, ‘I want to be that,’ and “that” was a song. I wanted to be a song. I didn’t want to be Bob Dylan. I didn’t want to be the voice or the instrument.  I wanted to be the song, the need and the depth and the whole story of a song. It’s strange that I would say that now because I still feel like I’m living life as stories.”

At fourteen, Sophie’s early desire to learn drums returned with great urgency.  “I knew I had to play African drums – I found an African drum teacher and then from that moment on I practiced as much as I could every day and I never stopped.  The thing is, I never even thought becoming a songwriter would be part of my journey.”

“After three years of creative battles and fan support, Sony Music finally released Sophie B. Hawkins’s third album, Timbre, in the summer of 1999. Having worked with producers like Rick Chertoff (best known for his work with Cyndi Lauper and Joan Osborne) and Stephen Lipson (Annie Lennox), Hawkins decided to take complete control of her third effort. The result is a strange palette: both dark and colorful, haunting and uplifting, Timbre is a middleground between the brilliant complexities and rawness of her debut, Tongues & Tails and the radio-friendly pop of Whaler. – Slant Magazine

“The album showcases a singer who has honed and gathered her various vocal styles — somber folk singer, saucy pop gal, note-bending jazz chanteuse — into a sleek, multifaceted whole. And let it be noted, without taking sides in the dispute that put Timbre on hold, that the banjo on “Lose Your Way” works just fine.” – Rolling Stone

“It’s emotionally bold…” – Entertainment Weekly

2004’s Wilderness saw Sophie diving into a jazzier style for what would become her most musically-layered and emotionally complex album yet, and the first recorded entirely in her Los Angeles home studio. Playfully exploring a collage of musical influences and her own multi-instrumental talents, Hawkins played guitar, cello, keyboard, drums and a variety of exotic percussion on a recording Rolling Stone magazine singled out for its “dreamy charm.”

“Hawkins made an interesting transition to indie artist, and on her latest she expands her already-broad horizons as a writer and performer. Wilderness makes a strong case for Sophie B. Hawkins’ evolving talents—major label or no.” – Paste Magazine

“Sophie B. Hawkins lightens up on ‘Wilderness’  with a sound and aura evocative of Laura Nyro and Nina Simone.” – Philadelphia Daily News

“Her best moments come when her fanciful pop orchestrations offer plenty of compensation, as on the evocative ‘Surfer Girl,’ or when her lyrics sound so effortlessly offhand they could pass for something composed by Paul Simon.” – Washington Post

“Sophie B. Hawkins can always be counted on to create music that plays against the prevailing cultural forces. Her new CD Wilderness is all love, light and playfulness – and it’s a pleasure listening to it.” – Chicago Free Press

“Delightfully unorthodox yet keenly melodic, Wilderness finds Hawkins once again making her own distinctive mark on the musical landscape.” –  Barnes & Noble