Disappear Fear

Last updated
Disappear Fear
Also known asSonia,
Sonia & Disappear Fear,
Disappear Fear Orchestra
Origin Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Genres Indie folk, Indie pop, Americana, Latin American, Blues, World
Years active1987–present
Labels Disappear Records, Rounder/Philo Records
Members Sonia Rutstein (SONiA),
Past membersMichael Bowie
Laura Cerulli
Don Conoscenti
Debbie Flood
Susan Charnley
Issac Tabor
Helen Hausman
Seth Kibel
Brian Simms
Marc Lawrence
Howard Markman
Christopher Sellman
Dylan Visvikis
Glenn Workman
Cindy Frank
Website www.soniadf.com

Disappear Fear (stylized as disappear fear) is an American indie pop/indie folk/Americana/world beat band formed in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1987. [1]

Contents

Biography

Disappear Fear is a songwriter, a band, a visual artist named Sonia Rutstein. Sonia hails from Baltimore, Maryland in the USA. Sonia has received many awards, including the Coin of Honor from the US Army for her humanitarian efforts, and the GLAAD award for Best Album. Sonia has shared the stage with many of her heroes, including Bruce Springsteen (Light of Day, Jan 2014) and Pete Seeger (Clearwater). When asked about her sound, Sonia reports: “I would say I think my voice is somewhere between Patti Smith and Perry Como; and my guitar style has a Gypsy Kings/Richie Havens flavor. The songs are mine but you can hear some Beatles and Springsteen. It’s really all about the energy—like a bird jumping off a window ledge. It’s in that split second of trust and light and talent and God."

The original band, formed in 1987, consisted of sisters Sonia Rutstein a.k.a. SONiA and Cindy Frank a.k.a. CiNDY, and expanded the following year to include guitarist Howard Markman. Their lyrics often addressed love, life, Baltimore, LGBT rights, and progressive political issues. The pair released six albums as a duo. (According to the band's official website bio, more than a half million copies of Disappear Fear records have been sold through 2009.) In 1994, after self-releasing their music via their own Disappear Records label, the band was signed to Rounder/Philo Records. Two years later, Cindy stopped performing regularly with the band in order to focus on her growing family. Cindy's teen son Dylan Visvikis has shared his talents on vocals and piano. From about 1996 through 2004, Sonia started a solo career that took her across the nation and around the globe. She released four LPs under her own name and established herself in the world of LGBT, Lilith Fair, and alt-folk artists. Rutstein has participated either alone or with the band in events including the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation and the Concert for Peace at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC with Peter, Paul and Mary (March 2003). Her performing destinations have taken her as far away as Jerusalem (where she toured bomb shelters), Fiji, and Australia's Sydney Opera House. The newest Disappear Fear recording is 2013's Broken Film , an album steeped in folk, pop and Americana sounds. Playing on the album are Sonia (songwriter, lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano), Elaine Romanelli (background vocals and organ), Don Conoscenti (electric guitar), Don Kerce (Bass), Dylan Visvikis (background vocals, piano), Helen Hausmann (violins, spoons), Jeff Gilkinson (cello), Laura Cerulli (percussion vocals), and Mike Poole (piano). Recorded in Nashville at the Brown Cow, from this CD was borne a successful 18-city tour with the full disappear fear band. SONiA's latest solo album is By My Silence. Released in late 2018, it reflects her mostly positive experience touring in Europe, but also, after being re-routed on her tour by right-wing nationalist marches, renews her commitment to sing out against antisemitism. Opening the album is A Voice for Nudem Durak , in support of a young woman jailed in Turkey on a 19.5 years sentence for singing in her native Kurdish language.

Rutstein's 2006 Middle East tour led to the founding of Guitars for Peace, a non-profit foundation that delivers instruments to children in impoverished or war-torn nations.

Soundtrack appearances

Sonia's songs are featured in the teen movie Frog and Wombat and in the independent film Wave Babes. Sonia also scored the entire soundtrack for Dave Marshall's documentary film Autumn's Harvest. Released for first time in 2018 on Terror Vision Records was Sonia's score for Igor and the Lunatics , a 1985 horror film. Most of the soundtrack was recorded with her band at the time, Exhibit A. The musical "small house no secrets" (composer Sonia Rutstein) was presented in March 2019 in Baltimore. The songs were available on the CD "small house no secrets – composer´s cut" by SONiA disappear fear

Awards and nominations

Rutstein won the award [2] [3] for Best Female Artist of the Year in 1999 for Almost Chocolate and her Me, Too won for Best Acoustic Album in 2001. [4] The band's eponymous album won the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Award for Best Album in 1994. [5] Both No Bomb Is Smart and Tango garnered multiple Grammy Award nominations for Rutstein in the pop and folk categories. [6] In 2002, the Santa Cruz Guitar Company created its "SONiA" model guitar in Rutstein's honor.

Discography

Disappear Fear

SONiA

SONiA & Disappear Fear

SONiA disappear fear

Band members

Sonia Rutstein and Laura Cerulli in 2007. Disappearfear2.JPG
Sonia Rutstein and Laura Cerulli in 2007.

Current members

Disappear Fear
Additional musicians

Past members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Band</span> Canadian rock band

The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of Canadians Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and American Levon Helm. The Band's music combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz and country, which influenced artists such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and Wilco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Waifs</span> Australian band

The Waifs are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson as well as Josh Cunningham. Their tour and recording band includes Ben Franz (bass), David Ross Macdonald (drums) and Tony Bourke.

The Wyrd Sisters are a Canadian folk music group formed in 1990 in Winnipeg by founding members Kim Baryluk, Nancy Reinhold and Kim Segal. Presenting initially as a trio, the group later grew to include a full band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Adams & the Cardinals</span> American rock band

The Cardinals are an American rock band that were formed in 2004 by alternative country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams and fronted by him. The band was featured on Ryan Adams and the Cardinals albums, Cold Roses, Jacksonville City Nights, Follow the Lights, Cardinology and III/IV. Though credited as a solo Ryan Adams release, the 2007 album Easy Tiger also features the Cardinals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Moray</span> English folk musician (born 1981)

Jim Moray is an English folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elton John Band</span> Supporting band of the musician Elton John

The Elton John Band is the band that backs singer, composer and pianist Elton John on both studio and live recordings. The band has gone through several lineup changes, but Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone, and Ray Cooper have been members since 1970, 1971 and 1973, respectively. The various lineups of the band have consisted of both British, American, and European musicians. The band is often not recognised as a formal entity, and is instead referred to simply as the Elton John Band.

The Settlers were an English folk-orientated music group, originally from the English West Midlands, who formed in the mid-1960s. The band folded in the early 1980s, relaunched in 2018, and disbanded again in 2021.

<i>Alma de buxo</i> 2002 studio album by Susana Seivane

Alma de Buxo is an album by Galician gaita (bagpipes) player Susana Seivane, released in 2002.

We Shot the Moon, formerly known as The Honor Roll, is a band from San Diego, California featuring Jonathan Jones the singer of Waking Ashland, and originally, Dan Koch, and Joe Greenetz both from the band Sherwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros</span> American folk rock band

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros was an American folk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2005. The group was led by singer Alex Ebert. The band's name is based on a story Ebert wrote in his youth, about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe. Drawing from roots rock, folk, gospel, and psychedelic music, the band's image and sound evoke the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The group's first show was played July 18, 2007, at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Their first studio album, Up from Below, was released on July 7, 2009, on Community Records and featured the popular single "Home". The group released their second full-length album, Here, on May 29, 2012, and third album, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, on July 23, 2013. Their fourth studio album, PersonA, was released in April 2016.

<i>Whats That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs</i> 1998 compilation album by Various artists

What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs is a 1998 tribute compilation to the music of the late Phil Ochs. The various performers cover several generations of Ochs' admirers. All profits from the album's sales were divided equally between the non-profits, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and Sing Out! Magazine.

The Sessions Band is an American musical group that has periodically recorded and toured with American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen in various formations since 1997.

<i>Blood, Bones & Baltimore</i> 2010 studio album by Sonia & Disappear Fear

Blood, Bones & Baltimore is the second studio album by American folk band Sonia & Disappear Fear also known as the "Disappear Fear Orchestra" on this album. It was released on March 9, 2010 by Sonia's own Disappear Records label. The album was recorded on November 11 and 12, 2009. The majority of which was mixed on December 16 and 17, 2009 at The Deep End Studio located in Baltimore, MD.

<i>Tango</i> (Sonia & Disappear Fear album) 2007 studio album by Sonia & Disappear Fear

Tango is the first studio album by the American folk band Sonia & Disappear Fear, released on October 2, 2007 by Sonia's own Disappear Records label. The majority of the tracks are sung in Spanish with a few being sung in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Five of the tracks are translated versions of older songs: "Fallin'", "Be the One", "Sexual Telepathy", "Because We're Here" and "Millions of Rope".

<i>Splash</i> (Sonia & Disappear Fear album) 2009 compilation album by Sonia & Disappear Fear

Splash is a retrospective album by the American folk band Sonia & Disappear Fear, released on January 16, 2009 by Sonia's own Disappear Records label and Rounder/Philo Records. The album is composed of songs from Sonia's solo career as well as the earlier incarnation of her band, simply known as Disappear Fear.

The discography of Disappear Fear, a Baltimore, Maryland-based indie folk band consists of ten studio albums, three live albums, one compilation album and two video albums. Their discography spans over a thirty-year career (1987–present).

<i>Get Your Phil</i> 2011 studio album by Disappear Fear

Get Your Phil is the sixth studio album released by Disappear Fear. This release marks the return of the harmonizing vocals of sisters: Sonia Rutstein (SONiA) and Cindy Frank (CiNDY); which have not been featured since the group's 1996 album, Seed in the Sahara. The album has been described as, "100% made in America, folk music." All tracks are songs written by Phil Ochs, except for "Because the Night" which was penned by Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on July 4, 2011. Cindy said of the release date, "We think a new anti-war album released on Independence Day is a great idea and we hope that Phil would be proud." The majority of the instrumentation on the album is done by Sonia. She plays the acoustic guitar, piano and harmonica. The album was engineered and produced by Grammy nominee, John Jacob.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Conoscenti</span> American singer-songwriter

Don Conoscenti is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist originally from Chicago, Illinois. He started his musical career in middle school playing drums, before receiving a guitar as a gift from a cousin for his 8th grade graduation. Conoscenti became known for his unique use of multiple and partial capos on the acoustic guitar, releasing an instructional video Capo Abuse and Guitar Techniques in 2001. He has played with many notable musicians, including Kristian Bush, David Wilcox, Ellis Paul, John Mayer, Nils Lofgren, Robert Mirabal, Bill Miller (musician), and The Indigo Girls, and he produced Dave Nachmanoff.

<i>DF 05 Live</i> 2005 live album by Sonia & Disappear Fear

DF 05 Live is the first live album and first overall album by American folk band Sonia & Disappear Fear. The album was released on October 18, 2005 by Sonia Rutstein's own Disappear Records label. The songs on the album span across Sonia's solo career as well as the earlier incarnation of her band, Disappear Fear.

<i>Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes</i> 2014 studio album by The New Basement Tapes

Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes is an album produced by T Bone Burnett featuring a collective of musicians recording under the moniker The New Basement Tapes—Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Marcus Mumford.

References

  1. Brennan, Sandra. "disappear fear". Allmusic.com. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
  2. Queer Music Heritage
  3. Gay & Lesbian American Music Award
  4. "Awards". Queermusicheritage.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  5. "Sonia with Disappear Fear". OutboundMusic.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  6. "AUDIX – Microphones, Wireless Systems, Monitors and Pro Audio Equipment". Audixusa.com. Retrieved 2010-05-14.