Bloomfield Hills Teen Ready to Release Debut Album

Sofi K — Sophia Washer off-stage — will launch her debut album, “LoveHate” at the Royal Oak Music Theatre next month. It was recorded in Ferndale and Southfield. (Photo via Sofi K website)

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The recording artist Sofi K, a freshman at Bloomfield Hills High School, will launch the release her debut album, “LoveHate” at a Nov. 6 concert at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St.

Doors open at 7 p.m. for the show. Tickets, which cost $10, are on sale now. According to information about the concert:

“In the heart of Motown, Sofi K was born on August 6th, 2001. Her huge singing voice and performance ability belies her diminutive stature. Her recording career has already begun at the young age of 14. Her debut album, LoveHate, includes all original material, produced by Kresge fellowship recipient, Bryce Harding. LoveHate is an eclectic mix of creative directions and different styles that have influenced her over her young career

“Her debut single, One Way Ticket, currently streaming on iTunes, is a modern throwback and was released on January 21st, 2015. Sofi K is already being compared to a young Duffy and Katy Perry by people in the industry. Along the way, she has done plays, festivals, clubs and private engagements. She continues to tour, perform and write, in preparation for the next step in her young career.”

Off stage, Sofi K is Sophia Washer, who reportedly hasn’t stopped singing since she was a toddler. She uttered her first words when she was 5 months old, according to The Oakland Press.

The young virtuoso picked up the violin at age 4, joined the Livonia Youth Symphony two years later, and has taken voice and dance lessons throughout her young life. Her voice has towered in the choir at the First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, in theater productions at Bloomfield Hills Public Schools, with the Motor City Melodies youth singing troupe, in theater productions at Cranbrook Theatre and the Village Players in Birmingham, and the Traverse City Film Festival.

“She said, ‘No, I want to play the violin,’ and we said, ‘What?!’” Washer told The Oakland Press last spring. “Neither my husband nor I play an instrument, neither of us are musically talented. But that’s what she wanted to do, so we found a teacher and the rest has become history.”

Sofi K says she’s thrilled to be able to share “something that’s really personal to me” with audiences.

“I sing because I want to make people feel better. I know if I’ve had a bad day I’ll listen to music and that will make me feel better,” she said. “So it’s to help people feel better in a different way. There are doctors and there are people who help people in all different ways. This is my way of helping people.”

Harding co-wrote the music for the 10 tracts on LoveHate with Sofi K, but the lyrics are Sofi K’s alone. The album was recorded over the past year at The Tempermill Studio in Ferndale and the Mix Factory One Studios in Southfield. T

Joining Sofi K at the release concert will be Soul Divide, which features Harding, and Stereo Jane, which is fronted by two Bloomfield Hills High School Students, twins Sydney and Emilia (Mia) Schmier.

“LoveHate” will be available for download and streaming at iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody and Tidal, and will also be sold as a compact disc on Amazon and CD Baby. The single “Stars” from the album will be released on Oct. 21.

More information about the young artist is found in her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. You can listen to “One Way Ticket” here.