Alvin M. Keeling When you first catch a glimpse of Sheyda Fassari in one of the many music videos she’s released this year, you’ll see a daring woman singing her lyrics in a big brassy voice.
Here she is, for example, on Lake Berryessa with a shipment of friends in the “I Wish I Could Want You” YouTube video, recorded late last summer.
“I made it a whole girls’ trip,” she said. “All of the people in the video are either friends of the house or they left Nashville with me.”
The “home” she refers to is Sonoma County, where she spent a decade growing up in Petaluma, after her early childhood in San Diego.
Nashville is where she lives now, collaborating with other songwriters there and releasing more pop and rock tracks than you might expect from the country music capital.
“I would say I’m a pop artist in the sense that I want to include different styles. I’ll listen to anything. I want some blues and country swing. A lot of my songs have a rock side, ”she said.
“I’m now focusing on a very specific sound in my songwriting, I notice it,” she added. “I want to write about real things, whether it’s funny or something more serious. My goal is to write four or five songs a month.
Her debut single, “The Dragon,” released earlier this year, is about watching a loved one struggle with addiction, while her latest recording, “GTG” (which means a line from the chorus, “Get the gun”), is a loud song about tough women having fun.
I had just taken a girls’ trip to Kentucky. A guy we barely knew invited us, ”Fassari recalls. I said, ‘I drive and bring a crowbar, bat, and wasp spray. “”
Fassari wrote his first song at the age of 14 and has written some 150 since.
“I took a poetry writing class and one day I put some of my poetry on three chords that I had learned. It didn’t look good, but that’s what got me started, ”she recalls.
“Then my mom sent me to a two week summer camp music program and I was able to record some of my songs. I don’t think I would want anyone to hear them now.
While developing her personality as a songwriter and singer, she also pursued studies and learned the business side of the music world.
At 29, she produced her own songs through her own record company, Fairfield-based Iron Rock Entertainment, which she started with her father, Christian Fassari, a retired civil engineer.
Fassari’s mother, Wynne, owns a horse dressage business, Iron Rock Dressage in Fairfield.
“I have been fortunate to grow up with people who believe in hard work and education,” said Fassari.
After graduating from Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa in 2011, she studied at Sonoma State University for a few years and performed with a cover band in small bars.
In 2014, Fassari moved to Nashville to study vocal performance at Belmont University. Once there, she discovered that she had vocal nodules that needed to be surgically removed.
She changed her plan to a double major in songwriting and business, and graduated last year. Through her songwriting, she regained her voice and resumed singing.
Now that she produces music on a regular basis, with a fourth release slated for next month, Fassari is kicking off live performances, with a show slated for December 4 in Fairfield.
“Trying to perform has been difficult over the past year and a half because of COVID. I had a few little gigs in Nashville and auditioned musicians for a band, ”she said.
“I’m now in the mindset to create a lot of content, build a strong business and get some exposure on social media,” said Fassari. “Then I finally want to hit the road more. “
You can reach Editor-in-Chief Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.
