The duo -- disappear fear -- begins in 1987, in the Baltimore music scene, with two sisters, SONiA and CiNDY.
After three independent releases they sign with Rounder/Philo in 1994 and cut a CD that features Janis Ian and the Indigo Girls.
But In 1996, CiNDY opts for motherhood. She can no longer devote consistent time.
SONiA goes her own way, completing her first solo project in 1998. CiNDY joins her when she has time.
However, when SONiA decides she is ready to assemble a band, CiNDY offers her blessing: to go for it, and to keep the name.
Laura Cerulli, percussion and vocals.
Angela Edge, bass and trumpet.
SONiA, lead vocalist, plays guitar, harmonica and piano.
Toss in some electric guitar -- "it punks pretty good," SONiA says -- some worldbeats and rock and reggae. Add mandolin or
"No matter how much you break it down or build it back up, it always seems to groove," SONiA says, referring to disappear fear. She likes to call it a "power trio," a label more often paired with metal or hard rock.
"Power doesn't always have to apply to volume," SONiA says. "Really what I'm speaking to is the integrity of the music, the level of musicianship and the content of the songs."
Imbibing more blues-driven and world-inspired tones, disappear fear remains of "the songwriter school" to "their advantage or disadvantage," committed to the expressions -- "acoustic activism" -- felt, for instance, in SONiA's 1994 solo release, "No Bomb is Smart." The album was nominated for a Grammy award in the Contemporary Folk category and for an Out Music award for Best Female Artist.
"One really supports the other," SONiA says, discussing the link between political topics and music. While some musicians, particularly those heard on mainstream radio, try to avoid songs of this ilk, for SONiA, the two ends are "one in the same." An out lesbian, she relishes her freedom, as an artist -- which she believes is uniquely American -- to make her "own individual choices," to speak her mind on subjects ranging from gay rights ("human rights," she says) to the Iraq War.
Topical songs represent only about half of disappear fear's material, SONiA says, yet songs of love, particularly "gay love," have a tendency to fall somewhere in the middle.
Since it's founding, meanwhile, disappear fear has wasted little time: in October 2005 they released a live album, "DF 05 Live," a musical documentary of their first 50 shows, comprised of songs recorded from venues the likes of Kerrville Folk Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, and Nashville's Bluebird Cafe. Disappear fear celebrated one year together at the Dogwood Festival in Atlanta on April 10.
Gigs range from excursions to Germany to house parties in benefit of grassroots organizations like Common Share. The tour culminates with an appearance at World Pride in Jerusalem in August 2006.
On April 19 they drop in at WestSide cafe. The show begins at 8 p.m. Lori Grigsby opens at 7:30.
Playing live "is a comfortable way to connect with people," SONiA says. Her songs, rise, after all, simply by "talking to her guitar."
"It's a way to share these conversations with people."
Recently, disappear fear has even leaked into danceclubs. A rapid- fire remix of "No Bomb Is Smart," originally a straight-up folk song packed with poignant anti-war lyrics -- dark instrumentation juxtaposed against sunny vocals -- was completed in an attempt to focus new attention on the Iraq War's third anniversary.
When downloaded on the Internet for a cost of 99 cents, 19 cents will support the World Food Program.
--- Tickets are $15 in advance at the WestSide cafe, located at 1A. W. 2nd St. in downtown Frederick. Call 301-418-6886.
On the Net: www.disappearfear.com; www.westside-cafe.com