Back in the mid-’90s, sisters and folk duo disappear fear spread their message of peace and love to packed clubs around Baltimore. Their self-titled first release won them the GLAAD Award for Best Album and Mix Magazine’s Top Release of the Year, and their follow-up album was produced by Bruce Springsteen’s piano player. Though sisters SONiA and CiNDY (also known as Sonia and Cindy Rutstein) still sing together, these days you’re more likely to see SONiA as a solo artist. After a decade of making music, CiNDY settled down for motherhood in 1998.
The sisters, who’d sung together their whole lives, teamed up in the late ’80s with SONiA writing songs and playing guitar and CiNDY harmonizing. SONiA was working for a rape crisis center at the time and she noticed, “When you disappear fear between people, what you have is love.” The band had a loyal following in Baltimore and toured the United States.
With CiNDY singing lullabies instead of anti-war songs, SONiA released “Almost Chocolate,” her first solo CD. Since then, she’s made a name for herself, winning a 2004 Grammy nomination for Contemporary Folk Album with “No Bomb is Smart,” and sharing the stage with Sarah McLachlan, Ani Difranco and Peter, Paul and Mary. In 2005, SONiA’s drummer Laura Cerulli and CiNDY joined in on vocals, and SONiA released “DF05” under the name SONiA & disappear fear.
SONiA will soon release her newest album, “t a n g o,” which features songs in Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and English. “A tango is a passionate dance between two people. It’s the only word that’s the same in all four languages,” says SONiA, who lives in Rodgers Forge. After her CD release show at the Gordon Center in Owings Mills on Sept. 29, SONiA will tour the United States and Australia.
As a solo act, SONiA is still committed to disappearing fear and spreading peace. “I want to break barriers in race, religion and other phobias,” she says. She donates a percentage of profits from her music downloads to end world hunger. “I want my music to be a big hug,” she says. —L.G.