She performed in a bomb shelter in Israel this summer during the Israel/Lebanon War. She's donating a guitar to a Palestinian womens' group called Flowers Against the Occupation, aiming to replace guns with guitars. And she plans to send a copy of her upcoming CD to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to "open a positive dialogue with him." It seems like generous-spirited Jewish lesbian singer-songwriter-guitarist Sonia Rutstein has the potential to have a greater impact for good on the Middle East than the entire Bush administration.
SONIA AND DISAPPEAR FEAR, FALLING LISA
January 5th, 2007 8:30 PM
Beachland Tavern
15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland
216-383-1124
www.beachlandballroom.com
Tickets: $12
Many of her fans made the acquaintance of the dynamic, dreadlocked Rutstein when she performed with her sister, Cindy Frank, in a folk-rock duo called Disappear Fear. Formed in the late '80s, the group attained its highest profile when it signed with Philo/Rounder Records in the mid-'90s, shortly before Frank decided to retire and start a family. Rutstein continued on her own, releasing albums as SONiA and travelling all over the world solo, with Frank contributing to recordings and making occasional on-stage appearances as her own life allowed. But a couple of years ago, Rutstein felt she was ready to revive the Disappear Fear banner.
"About three years ago I said I really wanted to do harmonies and explore a bigger arrangement of my music," she says. "I moved through doing the singer-songwriter thing with just my guitar and guest musicians so I wanted to expand that. I asked Cindy if she wanted to do it again and she said, 'I really can't, but go ahead.' So I did it, with her blessing and realizing that this is the dream and life I'm living and she's doing her own thing."
Since Rutstein has written all of Disappear Fear's songs, it wasn't a big leap. She hooked up with percussionist/vocalist Laura Cerulli through a friend about a year and a half ago, and the two now form the backbone of the group.
"She's really the first vocalist I've worked with who can do the harmonies that Cindy did," says Rutstein. "She's got tremendous range, and she plays really cool percussion. My music is challenging for musicians because usually musicians excel in one area, and I move through a lot of different styles as a songwriter, from blues to reggae to Latin to country to rock. It requires versatile musicians."
Rutstein says that versatility will show up on the new album she's currently mixing for an early 2007 release. She promises that she and Cerulli will play some of the new tunes when they hit Cleveland. "The working title is La Tormenta Santa," she reveals. "It means 'holy storm.' There's seven songs in Spanish, two in Hebrew, two in Arabic and English. It's what would be classified as world music. When the CD launches, the front page of my Web site will be in Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and English."
"Language is the way we frame our world," she explains. "I guess in some ways I got bored with American rock music. I wanted to kind of figure out the ways people think differently. I wanted to get more of an insider view of what it would be like to be not American and look at America. I wanted to feel the connection of our souls. Because we think through our language, in order to stand in someone else's shoes I kind of had to go there to do that. Also on my list is to send this CD to the president of Iran because he's very anti-Jewish and I really don't understand and I really need to talk to him. One of the lines in my CD that's in English and Arabic is 'I think your God likes me and my God likes you, too.'"
Rutstein made her third performing trip to Israel this past summer at the height of the conflict there. "One of the songs on my new CD, the first time I performed it was in a bomb shelter. I really had to confront the depths of what I felt 'disappear fear' was about. That's not something I usually have to do. The name 'disappear fear' means when you 'disappear fear' between people what you have is love. I couldn't not go because I had to be true to my name. I thought if I make it through with 200 bombs falling a day I'm right with myself; and if I don't make it through, I'm right with myself. It was scary but it was an experience I'll remember always." n