Sonya Cotton’s new album – It is so – (released this week via bandcamp and her personal website) is a beautiful, touching collection of songs dedicated, as Sonya writes, “…to the life and spirit of my mother, Karen Imparato Cotton.” The album also contains the track “Song For Eric,” a tribute to Sonya’s friend Eric Bayer who died of cancer shortly after her own mother succumbed to the same disease. Given these moments of great loss, it might be expected that an album like It is so would be somber and funereal.
And yes, there is sadness and loss in It is so. And yet, the album is also a wonderful celebration of life in all its forms. As Sonya writes: “The album is a tribute to my mother who passed away two years ago; she had cancer. In addition to exploring loss of many kinds (loss of life, of safe space, of hope,) the songs are also, as I see them, prayers, and celebrations of love.”
Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam singer, and man-you’d-have-least-expected-to-release-a-ukulele-album-in-1993, has, in fact, released a new album called Ukulele Songs – and now you can hear the whole thing on NPR’s 
