Ashley Sofia '11
MAJOR: English
CURRENT POSITION: Folk singer
Ashley Sofia '11, who critics and fans have called “the future of folk rock,” recently released her debut album, “Love and Fury.” A down-to-earth performer, she lives in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, where she was born and raised.
There, she studied and practiced music from a young age, playing the guitar with her father and taking clarinet and flute lessons. And at Union, she continued to immerse herself in music.
She expanded her knowledge by taking a Bob Dylan seminar and a music theory course. She blossomed lyrically as an English major, practiced her music with the co-ed a Capella group, The Eliphalets, and grew her fan base playing her songs for classmates in the halls of Union dormitories. By the time Sofia graduated from Union, she had written over 120 songs and had no intention of stopping.
“Even back at Union I envisioned that I would someday soon be a full-time musician,” Sofia said.
And now she is. Her music is out on iTunes, the Albany Times Union recently named “Love and Fury” one of the best albums of 2014, and she gives multiple concerts each month—she even played Union’s Springfest in May 2014.
“I was messaged by Union that the students wanted me to come and perform at Springfest. I was flattered and humbled,” Sofia said. “I was coming back to Union as I had done so many times. But this time, I wasn’t coming back just as a student, I wasn’t coming back just as an alum.”
Sofia, a self-described “big dreamer,” intends to spend over 100 days on tour in the U.S. and Europe in 2015. Learn more about her at http://ashleysofia.com/