In 2004, Sonya was spotted by Velour, who began work as her manager and record label. She recorded and released the EP Cold Day for Velour and began performing live with her talented band, sharing bills with such artists as Taj Mahal, Tuck & Patty and Shawn Colvin. In 2005, she recorded her first full-length album with co-producers Steve Addabbo (Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega) and Jeff Krasno. As advance copies made the industry rounds, Words Came Back To Me so impressed the principals of Starbucks Hear Music that Words will be Hear Music's second-ever release on their Hear Music Debut CD series, making the record available in all Starbucks Company-operated locations in the U.S and Canada beginning April 4, 2006. The album will be available at traditional music retail beginning April 4, 2006 as well.

When asked why adults relate so strongly to her songs, Sonya replies, "My dad was an abstract painter, and when people look at art that is nothing but washes of color, they see what they want to see, or what they need to see in it. So I try to write in a way that people can take from it what they need to take from it, and they can hear what they need to hear. So I think maybe that's why it works. Besides, teenagers feel things so intensely, and maybe people forget what it was like when they're past that point."

Does she have an ultimate career goal? "In the long run, I have high goals," Kitchell says. "If I could create even a fraction of the amazing body of work of a Joni Mitchell or Carole King or the Beatles-or last as long as U2. To be able to support myself. And to have a family some day. I also want to be politically active and make a difference. But really, what I've always wanted is to write a lot of songs that stick around."

In 2004, Sonya was spotted by Velour, who began work as her manager and record label. She recorded and released the EP Cold Day for Velour and began performing live with her talented band, sharing bills with such artists as Taj Mahal, Tuck & Patty and Shawn Colvin. In 2005, she recorded her first full-length album with co-producers Steve Addabbo (Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega) and Jeff Krasno. As advance copies made the industry rounds, Words Came Back To Me so impressed the principals of Starbucks Hear Music that Words will be Hear Music's second-ever release on their Hear Music Debut CD series, making the record available in all Starbucks Company-operated locations in the U.S and Canada beginning April 4, 2006. The album will be available at traditional music retail beginning April 4, 2006 as well.

When asked why adults relate so strongly to her songs, Sonya replies, "My dad was an abstract painter, and when people look at art that is nothing but washes of color, they see what they want to see, or what they need to see in it. So I try to write in a way that people can take from it what they need to take from it, and they can hear what they need to hear. So I think maybe that's why it works. Besides, teenagers feel things so intensely, and maybe people forget what it was like when they're past that point."

Does she have an ultimate career goal? "In the long run, I have high goals," Kitchell says. "If I could create even a fraction of the amazing body of work of a Joni Mitchell or Carole King or the Beatles-or last as long as U2. To be able to support myself. And to have a family some day. I also want to be politically active and make a difference. But really, what I've always wanted is to write a lot of songs that stick around."

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