How a love of jazz chords and alternate tunings inspired Soccer Mommy's most boundary-pushing album yet

Soccer Mommy
(Image credit: Gus Stewart/Redferns)

Ever since she was a tyke, 25-year-old Nashvillian Sophie Allison – better known as indie rock/pop-rocker Soccer Mommy – has found guitar to be the key to unlocking inspiration.

She remembers falling in love with the guitar at a show at her brother’s preschool, then receiving a “crappy nylon-string guitar” and “banging on it until my parents got me a small acoustic I could take lessons on”. She hasn’t looked back since, continuing to improve her skills over the years – and the albums.

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Joshua M. Miller

Josh is a freelance journalist who has spent the past dozen or so years interviewing musicians for a variety of publications, including Guitar World, GRAMMY.com, SPIN, Chicago Sun-Times, MTV News, Rolling Stone and American Songwriter. He credits his father for getting him into music. He's been interested in discovering new bands ever since his father gave him a list of artists to look into. A favorite story his father told him is when he skipped a high school track meet to see Jimi Hendrix in concert. For his part, seeing one of his favorite guitarists – Mike Campbell – feet away from him during a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert is a special moment he’ll always cherish.