West Michigan indie-pop star Sophia McIntosh creates buzz
GRAND RAPIDS — Suffice to say, 17-year-old indie-pop singer-songwriter Sophia McIntosh was predestined for life as a musician.
Raised by parents who performed for decades with the wildly popular Michigan cover band Drop 35, McIntosh started playing piano at age four and began exploring her own songs several years later, with their encouragement.
“I really just wanted to go my own way and start making my own music, and that’s what I did,” said the Jenison keyboardist, who has released several singles and fronts her own rock-propelled pop band, The Sages.
The Sages’ electrifying performance at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Café last September turned plenty of heads and had everyone on hand buzzing.
To date, McIntosh’s best experiences have always revolved around music, so much so that she’s already a full-time musician after spending some time at the Kalamazoo Academy of Rock, where she met future members of The Sages.
Inspired by “really big powerhouse voices” like Adele, Lady Gaga and Lauren Daigle, the singer boasts a seasoned attitude beyond her years. A release from last year, “Now You Made an Enemy,” racked up about 50,000 listens on Spotify alone.
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Even though she’s still a teen, McIntosh has years of stage performances under her belt after appearing in a wide variety of musicals at Grand Rapids' Civic Theatre and elsewhere, including “Annie,” “Mary Poppins” and “Freaky Friday.”
As for her songwriting, the music needs “to have something that connects to me,” she said. “I usually start with something that means a lot to me and I sit down at the piano, write the melody and I write the lyrics off the melody.”
In the coming year, McIntosh hopes to release a new single every month.
"I’m just going to keep trucking away, keep working, keep putting my music out there, keep performing —and I am hoping within the next few years that I can start making it big, whatever that means.”
— Find more Michigan music news and concert listings at LocalSpins.com. Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Michigan indie-pop star Sophia McIntosh creates buzz
