Sonya Heller, a folkster from the Big Apple, didn't have much say on whether she was going to be a musician or not. "I think being a musician, being an artist, is not a choice, for the most part. I think it's something that chooses you," Ms. Heller said during a phone interview. "I was helped by the fact that both my parents were singers. I was kind of raised with it. The music's been in the blood for a long time, and I live in New York City, so I was literally on that whole Bleecker Street scene. I was right there, all the places that Bob Dylan played, all the places that Tracy Chapman played – The Bitter End. My dad got me a guitar when I was 14 and I was just struck. I became obsessed."
Sonya Heller's 2001 release, Fourth Floor, should come packed with aroma-therapy candles and some Mr. Bubbles. The soft guitars and the steady rhythms are completely non-threatening, massaging the tender and troubled parts of the brain. "I have a lot of people tell me that they love to take a bubble bath and put my CD on," Ms. Heller said. "The thing is that my lyrics are very deep, very soulful. It's just the package they come in is very soft. But, if you listen to the lyrics, there is a lot of what someone called 'messages in a bottle.'" "I don't like to jar people," she continued. "I leave that to other kinds of bands and other kinds of music."
Ms. Heller said that, for her, being on tour isn't just about getting to the fans and playing gigs, even though that is important. Getting on the road brings her peace as well. "It eases my mind," she said. "I like talking to people in between sets, and talking and yakking, and then just moving on. That's the road for me. I really, really enjoy it."
