R
S
ising
tar
BY W.B. FRESA
OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART STUDENT, SOPHIA BLAKE,
IS JUST 17 BUT ALREADY LIVING OUT HER DREAM.
S
ophia Blake was born and raised in Oakdale and is a
junior at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School. She
began playing the piano at five and started voice lessons
at nine—a pretty normal life for a young girl. But Sophia
isn’t interested in simply playing an instrument or humming a
tune. She’s just getting started.
At 17, Sophia has written, recorded and produced two albums:
“Freehand” and “Moon Rose,” which were released in March and
November 2017.
“My style of music and writing is influenced by music my
parents introduced me to at a young age,” says Sophia. “The
unique qualities of alternative and indie music have inspired
me. ‘The Shins’ and ‘Arctic Monkeys’ are two great bands whose
writing styles I love. I like the poetic nature of the word choices
and find my writing style is similar. I definitely hear the words
before I hear the music.”
As she grew older and gained more experience listening to
music and playing instruments, including piano, guitar and
ukulele, she wrote a song called ‘All the Things.’
At 13, as part of Point Park University’s WYEP radio’s
‘Reimagination’ project, Sophia submitted the song, which was
chosen to be included on the Reimagination CDs. As a result, she
was given the opportunity to write and re cord another song with
professional musicians in a recording studio. The song is called,
‘This Song’ and can be found on Volume 3 of the Reimagination
project. Since then, Sophia’s performed at the Three Rivers
Arts Festival and has worked with some terrific musicians and
producers. “It’s what’s given me the drive and passion to write
two albums,” she says.
Sophia’s next step in her journey as a musical artist is to find
small venues where she can perform as well as to keep making
music.
“I’d love to find some coffee houses or restaurants where I
can practice my craft and hopefully gain an audience. It would
be awesome to know people are listening to my music in a live
setting. I recently filmed a music video for my song, ‘Bubble.’ We
shot the whole thing using an iPhone and chose Lawrenceville
as the setting because it’s such a colorful and vibrant
neighborhood.”
Right now, Sophia sees music as her career. “This is what I
love to do. When people hear my music and tell me about the
emotional impact it’s had on them, that’s the best feeling in the
world.” ■
» To learn more about Sophia Blake and download her music, go to sophiablakemusic.com.
MOON TOWNSHIP
❘
SUMMER 2018
15