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Songs and Samples
The Red Cranberry Bush / Chervona Kalyna
Mother Gave Me a Whipping / Byla Mene Maty
Oh Johnny / Ivanku
The Red Rue / Chervona Ruta
My Thoughts / Doomeh Moyee
I am a Dark-Eyed Girl / Oy Chorna ya sy Chorna
Dearest Mother of Mine / Reedna Maty Moya
No Other / Inshoho Nema
My Carpathian Mountains (Hey, Hey) / De Hory Karpaty
My Testament / Zapovit
Mother's Lullaby / Maty Donyu Kolysala
Some Nice Things People Have Said
Sonia has instilled new life into traditional Ukrainian folk songs, which are sung with a passion that reaches into one's soul.
-Oleh G. Pawluk,
Editor and Vice President of the Ukrainian Federal Credit Union Quarterly,
Rochester, NY
Sonia was a wonderful addition to the Yonkers Ukrainian Heritage Festival in Yonkers, NY. Her beautiful voice was a huge crowd pleaser and we hope to have her perform again next year!
-Slawko Palylyk
Entertainment Chairman,
Yonkers Ukrainian Heritage Festival
About Sonia Lee
Rochester, New York native, Sonia Lee moved to Nashville with a dream to write songs. That dream began as a first generation Ukrainian American with parents that preserved their heritage of music in their daughter's upbringing.
She began to sing at the age of three and to play the guitar at age twelve (at Ukrainian camp when the guitar player didn't show up!). Sonia learned to carry on the family tradition of decorating Easter eggs (pysanky), Ukrainian folk dancing, and embroidery of beautiful Ukrainian patterns.
Her heritage was not her only influence. She loved music from the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, and the American folk music she grew up around in upstate New York.
For years following her move, Sonia sat in the audience of the famous Nashville songwriter mecca, the Bluebird Cafe, dreaming of being a songwriter. During that time, she relied heavily on alcohol, and Sonia now often talks candidly about the problems that reliance caused in her life.
In her quest for recovery, Sonia met a network of support and friends that helped her learn a new set of principles for living and a totally new outlook upon life. From that moment, Sonia Lee's life changed for the better, one day at a time.
Sonia began to write by herself, as well as with co-writers who held like beliefs in themes of love, forgiveness, and recovery. And she began to sing in songwriter rounds at the Bluebird, where she'd watched so many great songwriters perform in the past.
Sonia's producer, Kim McLean, was one of the songwriters with whom she formed a friendship, and later a creative partnership in the studio with her first project,
With great critical acceptance, and a successful tour of Ukrainian audiences across America, and even a visit to Ukraine, Sonia's dream was not yet completely fulfilled. She still felt an ever present need to express her own creative voice in music.
So, a heartfelt conversation with McLean, led to the recording of her second CD, True, an album of self-penned and co-written anthems and touching ballads composed from the tapestry of Sonia's own "True" life.
In 2006, Sonia performed at the world renowned Kerrville Folk Festival, hailed as the festival for up and coming songwriters. She earned the prestige of being chosen as one of thirty-two finalists out of the more than 800 applicants.
As a singer/songwriter, Sonia writes from personal experience - - she has been sober and in recovery from alcoholism for eleven years. So it's not surprising Sonia drew a standing room only crowd during her CD release party for her third CD, Chance To Start Over, at Nashville's Bluebird Café in January 2007.
Chance To Start Over carries a positive message of the faith and strength that Sonia has found in recovery. Anyone who has faced difficult times, regardless of the challenge, will find an uplifting message in each of the CD's twelve songs.
A Message From Sonia Lee
If you're reading this, there's a good chance that you are someone who has had to overcome a significant challenge in your life. Eleven years ago my life came to a crossroads – I had to make a decision. I chose a new path, and that's when my journey beganp.
This CD is dedicated to all the other earthlings I met on the path (God knows I'm an earthling, so He speaks to me through you!) who gave me their time, love, support, and most importantly who taught me how to use the spiritual tools that have transformed my life. I no longer have a deep regret over my past because it has made me who I am today – imperfect as that may be. But I'm OK with that because today I know how to live . . . one day at a time.
Being sober has allowed me to follow my dreams, one of which was to make this CD. I thank you for buying it, and now we are part of each other's journey. Whether your journey began years ago, or is just now starting, my hope is that you will hear something in my songs that will help you grow, heal, find serenity, and inspiration.
Eleven years ago I found a quote by an American actress, Mary Pickford (1893 – 1979). I wrote it down and have read it over a million times: "If you have made mistakes, you may have a fresh start at any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down." Years later, it inspired the title track, Chance to Start Over. Don't give up before the miracle happens.
With much love,
-Sonia Lee