Windsor teen finds refuge in music

In a way, Windsor teen Sarah DeFors’ six-song album has been in the works since she began playing piano and violin at 4 years old. It was fueled by natural talent, a two-year illness and the refuge she found in songwriting.

In November 2013, Los Angeles producer Dean Dichoso began helping her record the songs at Tranzformer Studio in Studio City, completing the self-titled extended play album this summer.

Now all that’s left for the Cardinal Newman High School senior is raising $12,000 to pay for its release. For that, DeFors has mounted a Kickstarter campaign that ends Thursday .

“This album is me exploring my musical tastes,” said DeFors, who turned 18 this month and has her heart set on a career in music. “It’s a sample album of the genres that have influenced me: rock, country, pop and the big, beautiful R&B voices” of the Motown music she listened to while growing up.

DeFors played violin and piano until, at 11, she became ill with a blood infection that was resistant to treatment. Over the next two years, she had 13 surgeries on her head and legs.

“The surgeries and medicines helped me overcome it,” she said. “The head surgeries were what made the ultimate difference in getting better.”

During this time, she took up the guitar and began writing songs in her bedroom, an experience she describes as “a high that you can’t get from anything else.”

“I had to grow up fast and deal with things no normal 12-year-old usually does,” she said. “I always had an ‘old soul’ outlook on life, but the sickness enhanced that. I look at the world and its struggles in a different way than most, especially those my age.”

At 15, she started emailing and calling Sonoma County radio stations to get air time for her songs. Only a few responded, she said, but those that did were extremely supportive.

“Much of it is about being fearless in your networking, being able to professionally present yourself and, most of all, delivering with your music and performance,” she said. “I was a very shy kid. I forced myself to do an open mic night at Hop Monk Tavern.”

As her fame spread, DeFors handled her own bookings, playing at coffeehouses, galleries, festivals and small clubs from Fresno to Los Angeles, including Hop Monk Tavern in Sebastopol. Her mother, Michelle Marie DeFors, accompanied her on her travels.

“It’s all about supporting what your kids want to do,” said Michelle, who owns Michelle Marie’s Patisserie in Montgomery Village. “I truly believe she will have a long and successful career in the music industry, as a singer, songwriter and whatever she wants to be.

“She’ll find out more about who she wants to be along the way. She’s only 17.”

DeFors has an agreement with Cardinal Newman that allows her to be away from her classes as long as she maintains at least a 4.0 grade point average. While recording the EP, DeFors went to Los Angeles twice a month, attending high school Tuesday through Thursday and staying in Los Angles Friday through Monday.

That meant a lot of 12- and 14-hour days and a few extended 11-day trips.

“It was more than we expected to have to travel, but we did what we had to to make something I’m proud of,” DeFors said. “It was basically being on tour for 10 to 11 months while going to school full time.”

Adds Michelle, “I see it the same as any other career choice in that she’ll keep working hard building her skills and knowledge. It’s a difficult industry to navigate. We met some people who are less than on the up and up. We try to steer around those bumps in the road.”

DeFors said her mom and dad aren’t stage parents, adding that “they let me make my own decisions.” The first test was an early opportunity to publish a song with a Nashville publishing company.

“I decided not to,” DeFors said. “I was too new to the scene, and I wanted to know what I was doing and know more about myself.”

Then there was the chance to privately audition for “American Idol.”

“That wasn’t a route I wanted to take,” DeFors said. “It’s just not for me. I prefer to start from the bottom, make my own connections and build a foundation.”

Michelle said she is proud of that decision. “She didn’t rush into something she wasn’t prepared for or wasn’t fully informed about,” she said. “Sarah decided to figure out who she was as a person and musician. Sarah is more of a ‘look before you leap’ type of person.”

Her father, Doug DeFors, is the collections manager at Marin History Museum and is less involved in her musical career.

“I’m proud of what she’s done so far, and I’m convinced that she’ll have a career in music,” he said. “I can’t wait to see these fabulous songs live with a full band.”

DeFors said the Los Angeles producers who have helped her grow as an artist - Dichoso and Devin Buttner, a partner at Screenpush Digital Advertising - are treated like family.

“Sarah is bright-eyed and gifted, as is her career ahead of her,” Dichoso said. “Her sonorously sincere voice is like that of your best friend telling you a story meant to make you smile, no matter the subject.”

DeFors lives in Windsor with her mother and her father and older sister Kimi.

“I’m definitely going to finish high school. If things take off sooner, I’ll just have to finish it on the road,” she said.

She plans to attend college eventually but wants to move to Los Angeles after graduation to continue writing and performing.

“This is my career right now. It’s my opportunity to focus on my music,” she said. “I was always the kid who got sick every couple weeks, but being sick forced me to do this by myself and created a passion to be independent and do what I love. I’m in this to be a musician in the long run,” DeFors said.

Sarah DeFors needs to raise $12,000 by Jan. 22 for distribution fees, printing CDs, packaging and show equipment to support her self-titled album. Read about it at http://pd2go.net/zZ3NDH.

Contact Windsor Towns ?Correspondent James Lanaras at?WindsorTownNews@gmail.com.