Life & Work with Alona and David Sofer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alona and David Sofer.

Hi Alona and David, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our story began about six years ago. We were on our honeymoon in an Airbnb in East Nashville. The energy and the vibrant city just made us fall in love with Tennessee and Nashville. I still remember like it happened yesterday when we looked at each other and decided that this is going to be our home. One thing we forgot to mention was that we were only tourists from Israel, and it was our honeymoon and we both had careers and all our family and friends were in Israel. Fast forward, David took a year off with no pay and Alona resigned her job and we flew to the USA with our two dogs: Fender and Gibson and a couple of suitcases. We started our journey in Topeka, KS in all places. At the time it made sense to start somewhere we knew a few people that were our first circle of friends. It was a rough start with minimum wages, Alona was performing in a local bar for tips and David was teaching CrossFit in a local gym. A year and a half later we came to a decision that we need to change our location, so god’s country here we come, Colorado. It was already better, we bought our first home in a small town called Granby, Colorado. The town was small and cozy, the people were so friendly and welcoming even though the weather was harsh on us, -40 will make your lungs freeze.

It was our first break; David was a police Officer at the local department and Alona was working in an insurance company. This is where it all started for us; a couple who makes music together. We played some local bars and restaurants and even when our daughter, Joy was born we would still play some local gigs. Right before that we recorded our first EP – Still on Top. We recorded the songs in a local Music Studio. I don’t even know where to start how amazing and challenging the experience was. It was the first time for David, but Alona was there to help and guide. It all looked pretty good in our small piece of heaven but then the world changed. Everything closed down for about two years and that made us reevaluate every decision we made. We decided that we should go big or go home and I mean it literally. Tennessee was always our destination, but life gets in the way until you make it happen. So again, we chose to take a leap of faith and relocate once again and this time for good. Home sweet home Tennessee. It came down to a two-week crunch for us to sell our house in Granby and buy our new house in a small town in Trousdale County.

BTW, we bought the house online like it was a T-shirt you can return. We didn’t have the time to fly and see the house, so we put an offer before we even saw it in person. Little did we know it was one of our best decisions. The house was magical. Out in the Country with farms all around it. American Dream here we are. Five years came by, and we were a young couple of immigrants from Israel with a dream to move to the greatest country in the world, USA, just bought a house, built our music studio and our daughter has her own 1 acre of land to run around and grow up. Our dog’s Fender and Gibson still don’t believe how lucky they are and truthfully, we don’t either. So, who are we? Our names are Alona and David Sofer. We are parents and musicians that keep their day jobs. But most important we are here to make something out of our story. So, we’re working on our new song called “My American Dream”. We teamed up with a great and young ambitious producer from the Nashville area and this time we’re doing it again, go big or go home but this time home is here in Nashville, TN.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No road that is worth it is smooth. Our story was and is no different. We started five years ago with nothing, minimum wages, a rental house, car with payments and no actual plan of how it’s all going to work out. I remember that day when David lost his job and even with this job, we barely made ends meet. It was our first year and our first Christmas, no money, no plan and no idea what’s next. We were blessed that a few good people reached out and we came around the corner and things got a little better. The struggle never ends, the language, the culture, even the food, everything is so different. But struggles are good things because they show you how to appreciate the small things in life. Having your freedom, having a child, a house, a land and most important family and friends – we don’t take it for granted. Looking back, it makes us appreciate what we have today and at the same time, we are not done. For us it’s just the beginning, the musical journey has no end but only a process that we are enjoying and can’t wait to share with anyone who is willing to listen.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We do have our day jobs but who wants to talk about that, not really. For us, music is the fuel. What drives us forward are the stories that little by little turn into songs and down the road it will all make sense. It’s a process like anything else. You record one thing and then a few days later you already see the flaws, all the things you could have done better. But we have no time to waste. We keep looking forward and are already trying to make it better. Growing up, I used to think, “how hard can it be to write a song? I mean, c’mon it’s all been done until it’s you”. The story or the feeling you have deep inside and will not let you move on until you write it down and then add the guitar to it. How do you put a few chords to make others feel what you felt? That’s the hardest part. How do you stay authentic and real and still make it resonate? That is exactly what we are working on right now. Bring our stories, our life experiences into a song, basically pour our hearts into a story. It’s a dream of ours to see others sing along those words we wrote in our most important moments of our life and see how it affects others, the energy, the connection, that’s pure magic. A true human experience that we just can’t wait to have. We wrote a line in our song “My American Dream”; “It ain’t about the fame and glory, for me it’s to pour my heart into a story” and that’s exactly how we feel.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Honestly, who knows. The world is changing rapidly and it’s hard to keep up. For us, it’s staying who we are. For staying authentic and being who you are, I truly think that there is always going to be a place. Trends come and go but people are people, and the basic human feelings will stay the same, love is love and a good beat will make you move from side to side. So, who knows where it’s all going, which is also a fun part, who wants to see a movie when you know how it ends?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alonasofermusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alona_c_sofer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlonaSoferMusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlonaSoferMusic
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/alonasofermusic
• Other: https://linktr.ee/AlonaSoferMusic