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In Portuguese, their name means "dream." But a name isn't all Fort Collins activist Sonia Bawa and SONiA, lead singer and guitarist for the band disappear fear, shared. Both dreamed of an end to the Iraq war and a better use for the billions being spent on it. Bawa spent the last years of her life campaigning for President George W. Bush to call a halt to the battle for one day and delegate those funds to cancer research. The 15-year-old activist died Jan. 23, 2005, of complications due to her treatment for leukemia. SONiA has spent the last two decades performing music to encourage peace and social activism. While she never met Bawa, her efforts inspired her, said SONiA in a phone interview from her Baltimore home. To celebrate Bawa's life and continue pursuing her dream, the award winning artist will perform a rare solo show along with local band The Atoll. The show also gives SONiA the chance to celebrate music. "It's special now because since I put the band back together it's always been the band," said SONiA, who started disappear fear in 1987 with her sister, CiNDY . The band split in 1996 when CiNDY decided to trade in music for motherhood and SONiA performed solo for six years before starting the band again. But disappear fear fans shouldn't fret, the songs are the same, just rearranged a bit here and there. "(Solo shows) give me a different freedom," SONiA said. "With the band, if I change the timing or a lyric it affects everything - they have to watch me really tightly." disappear fear is touring the U.S. and Canada and will wrap up in August with a performance at World Pride in Jerusalem before heading back into the studio. With album titles like "No Bomb is Smart" disappear fear has always been political; the band's mantra is "changing the world one song at a time." SONiA said she enjoys being outspoken on topics that aren't necessarily talked about in "showbiz land" but that she's not inventing the wheel. "The greatest artists have all been deemed political artists who were saying what they needed to say in their art," she said. "True art, like true love, yearns to be heard and to be loud. You have no choice - for me I have to say what's in my heart." While she never got to meet Bawa, SONiA said she feels a real connection after learning of her efforts. The singer was asked to do the show after Bawa's mother, Beena, was doing a Google search on her daughter's name and came upon the disappear fear Web site. The show will act as celebration of her life and is an opportunity to remind audiences what can happen if you pour yourself into an effort. "Sonia's dream can be real," SONiA said. "And as we are still alive and breathing what a gift it would be to make her dream real." Originally published January 5, 2006 |