Last year was eventful for out singer/songwriter SONiA Rutstein. She met and recruited two new musicians for her band, disappear fear, went on tour, and released her 10th album.
And this year will be no different.
Already on tour, the lesbian trio will perform Feb. 24 at the Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville. Rutstein, along with Laura Cerulli (percussion, vocals) and Angela Edge (bass, trumpet), will perform songs from their latest album, “DF05 Live,” a collection of songs recorded last summer while on tour.
“There will be a lot of passion,” Rutstein said about the upcoming show. “I think people will luck out with a clear vision that the individual matters.”
Driven to better the world through their music, the band’s inspiration comes largely from social issues.
“It’s not about good guys and bad guys,” Rutstein told PGN. “To me, the whole separation of Democrats vs. Republicans is what makes us weak and is a complete waste of time and energy.”
Disappear fear originally began in 1987, when Rutstein’s other band, Exibit A, parted ways. She and her sister, Cindy Frank, performed together until 1996, when Frank became a full-time mother.
“I knew disappear fear was ready to happen again,” Rutstein said. “The response has been really, really great.”
The current band began playing together April 10 at the Dogwood Festival in Atlanta. Rutstein said she met Edge in the summer of 2004 at a women’s festival in Ohio and Cerulli through other musicians. Prior to the band’s formation, Rutstein was a solo artist, and she plans to continue doing solo gigs in addition to performing with her band.
“The music of Sonia and disappear fear is one of the same,” Rutstein explained. “But the arrangements are different. [With the band] there’s harmony, there’s bass, there’s trumpets.” Rutstein said