If the name Sophie B. Hawkins doesn't ring a bell, you clearly weren't around in the 90s - or didn't watch teen dramas in the 90s - when she released a string of hits including Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover from her debut album Tongues and Tails, which earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nomination in 1993, Right Beside You, As I Lay Me Down (one of my favorite ballads and one of the longest charting radio tracks in Billboard Adult Contemporary chart history) and Lose Your Way (which was featured on the Dawson's Creek soundtrack). After the release of Tongues and Tails, she went on to release five studio albums namely Whaler (1994), Timbre (1999), Wilderness (2004), The Crossing (2012) and Free Myself (2023).
According to NPR Music, in addition to being an incredible singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, she is a "passionate activist, who is devoted to LGBTQ+ advocacy, animal rights and environmental causes, as well as the support and promotion of her fellow female musicians".
Sophie is currently on tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her second album, the critically and commercially successful Whaler. She has described the tour as "a new voyage to the melodic shores of Whaler as its timeless songs re-emerge on stage". She posted the following on her official website ahead of the tour:
"Whaler was an incredibly adventurous time of my life, making my second record in London, meeting my teenage inspirations, living a dream I’d imagined since childhood. The songs are warm and happy and I love getting to know this part of me again, and presenting them live in a whole new way."
I was fortunate to hear these and other songs in an intimate setting when she brought the Whaler 30th Anniversary show to City Winery, allowing me to experience the songs that punctuated my teen years in a whole new way. She took to the stage in a pair of comfy jeans and a flannel shirt, barefoot, and kicked things off with my favorite SBH song, Right Beside You. She was charming and quirky and it was clear that she was enjoying each song as much as the audience, sharing stories about her career and songs throughout the evening. We were also treated to a song so new that it hasn't been recorded yet. It was a delightful evening of music and memories from an incredibly talented artist.
The complete setlist was a follows:
Right Beside You
Don't Tell Me No
As I Lay Me Down
I Need Nothing Else
Did We Not Choose Each Other
Mr Tugboat Hello
Swing From Limb To Limb (My Home Is In Your Jungle)
True Romance
Only Love (The Ballad Of Sleeping Beauty)
(New Song)
Hungered For Love
Love Yourself
I'm Better Off Without You
Diamonds And Rust (Joan Baez cover)
Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
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