About Sofie
Sofie left Ludvika, a small town in Sweden, in 1987, landing in Minneapolis, MN. She was 18 years old. Growing up, Sofie had a deep admiration for the arts. In her early teens, she became involved with a local theater company where she took classes in acting and directing, onto creating ‘fairy-tale spaces and scenes’ for young children where she would read stories, along with writing manuscripts, stage-building and creating costumes for the public school children’s drama lessons and play performances. Feeling a great connection within theater work, along with the acknowledgment of her talents by a senior drama teacher and director in the school where she had attended classes, Sofie decided to pursue this line of work. She was admitted to the theater school. But, Sofie abandoned her initial plan when her mother died from a long battle with cancer. Instead, she decided to follow her passion of music; sing and write songs. She arrived in the great music city of Minneapolis not knowing anyone, to somehow create a life within the arts.
Through a rich creative journey spanning three decades, Sofie Reed has evolved as a skilled vocalist, composer, one-of-a-kind musical visionary and multimedia artist. She is a self-taught, independent, grassroots artist. She started a ‘One-Woman-Band’ project in 2010, touring internationally, singing and stomping on an amplified wine-box, playing dulcimer and a variety of instruments, performing her songs. Music aficionados all over the world love and appreciate the unique and soulful style that is all her own. Her soundscapes encompass roots & blues, folk-blues, soul, R&B, jazz... No matter the term, Sofie’s thrilled audiences with her extraordinary artistry and charisma.
In the dark of the pandemic, Sofie retired her One Woman Band project to return to create songs with a broader production and focus on unique and experimental short films and videos. Have you seen Jagged Walker?
Sofie is driven by a meticulous nature and deep dedication to her artistry. Her phrasing creates a style of storytelling not so common these days. Sofie's free spirited lyrics range from the art of the double entendre in songs such as Funky Rattle, Tinder, The Village Rooster; to beautiful story telling. Her deep connection to nature and social dilemmas influence her writing. Her song, How You Flow, is a powerful example of how she often uses nature as the root metaphor. Red Hen is a word play inspired not only by an old worldwide folk tale “The Little Red Hen”, the lyrics also reflect Sofie’s experience working as an independent woman artist. She’s an adventurous creative who explores many styles of music without borders.
Drive, discipline, and focus have made Sofie Reed the artist she is today, single-handedly (and admirably) building her "house of music" on a rock solid foundation. To diligently and tirelessly create one's own path takes a very special kind of spirit. Sofie currently resides in Buffalo Creek, Colorado.
A Little More History - from Minnesota to Colorado
As Sofie arrived Minneapolis, she started off freelancing as a stylist within the local music scene, until one of her clients, Sheila Charles, daughter of Ray Charles, hired her as a back-up singer. That pivotal encounter led to Sofie performing session work throughout the Twin Cities; movie scores, commercials, backup singing.. She created workshops around the art of singing and writing songs (to this day). Working with Sheila also introduced Sofie to Paisley Park (Prince) where the facility director at the time, Craig L. Rice, heard Sofie’s music and contacted her in an interest to support her talent as a young songwriter. Another key experience in Sofie’s quest to evolve her writing was being introduced to the remarkable composer, Willie Murphy. This lead to a friendship as well as ‘mentor-ship’. Mid 90’s, Sofie married finger-style guitarist Preston Reed. The two performed as a duo around the Midwest. Eventually, she left Minneapolis and moved to Colorado, where she recorded her first CD “Baby Boo Got Gone” , a top seller at CDBaby (Blues/Americana). Though Sofie earned a lot of followers through her debut CD, substantial support was no where to be found. At the age of 40 she started learning to play the dulcimer and lap steel guitar and began a 6 year learning curve to coordinate foot-stomping on an amplified wine-box, while playing dulcimer, lap steel guitar, Lee Oskar Harmonicas and singing.
“Simplicity Chased Trouble Away” (2012), Sofie’s first SOLO CD release, gained further followers in the States and Europe. She crowned herself as a 'One Woman Band’ touring all over the planet!
Today there’s five CDs (and a few singles) in Sofie’s catalog:
WISH FREE (2019)
Sofie Reed featuring Mark A. Haynes
ROCKY ROAD (2017)
Sofie Reed & Russell Jackson
RED HEN (2014)
Simplicity Chased Trouble Away (2012)
BABY BOO GOT GONE (2004)
Listen to Sofie's music at YouTube!
“Sofie Reed is a multi-talented artist who gives so much of herself as a performer. With varied talents as an incredible, soulful singer and instrumentalist, Sofie also plays the harmonica. She is a phenomenal one-woman band! Her sense of rhythm, phrasing and overall artistry make her one of the most interesting artists on the international music scene today. I'm thrilled that she plays Lee Oskar Harmonicas as she sure knows how to bring my favorite instrument to life with finesse, flair and great feeling.”
