BIO

SHARON GOLDMAN is a New York-raised, New Jersey-based singer-songwriter whose "intense, insightful, vivid" storytelling is a "clinic in how to paint an indelible picture with the simplest images and symbols" (Alan Young, New York Music Daily) 

Over several well-received albums (including 2016's KOL ISHA/A Woman's Voice, which was named one of the Top 10 Folk Albums of 2016 by WFDU's Ron Olesko) she has combined heartfelt portraits and memorable lyrics with unforgettable melodies and pure, precise, expressive vocals — taking a folk/pop sensibility to new artistic heights. She performs regularly at house concerts, folk coffeehouses, festivals, arts and cultural venues and community centers. 

Sharon's newest 12-song album, EVERY TRIP AROUND THE SUN, produced by Allison Tartalia & Sharon Goldman, was released in July 2019. 

"With Every Trip Around the Sun, Sharon Goldman reaches inside herself and pulls out a compact, intimate voice that whispers existential secrets into the listener's ear. The resulting effect is a seductive, delicious sharing of places visited and a life fully lived." ~ Richard Cuccaro, Acoustic Live in New York City 

Sharon was a 2019 finalist in Connecticut Folk's Grassy Hill Songwriting Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest (adult contemporary category, for "Tuesday Morning Sun." She was honored with a showcase spot at the 2017 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance conference; a finalist spot at the 2017 South Florida Folk Festival songwriting competition and three Honorable Mentions at the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest. She hosts music regularly in her Metuchen, NJ hometown and runs a bi-monthly community songwriting group called SONG ON THE FLOOR.

 

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Long Island born-and-bred, Sharon was raised on ballet, books and Billy Joel.  But after busting out of Orthodox Jewish suburbia, she spent twenty years living in New York City, where she built a career as a magazine writer and editor and did what she thought she was supposed to do — she got married, bought a 2-bedroom co-op apartment and waited for her settled-down future to arrive.

But when Sharon discovered Manhattan's open mike scene in 2000 (at long-shuttered venues such as the DarkStar Lounge, Baggott Inn, C-Note and Sun Music Company), somehow she knew another future was in store. After divorcing in 2003, selling her apartment and starting over, she was already well on her way to developing a smart, savvy songwriting style, recording albums (she now has a half-dozen under her belt) and building a performance resume around the Tri-State  area, garnering fans eager for  smart, sophisticated songwriting not available on mainstream radio.

Sharon's newest 12-song album, EVERY TRIP AROUND THE SUN, produced by Allison Tartalia & Sharon Goldman, was released in July 2019. Sharon's previous album, 2016's KOL ISHA (A Woman’s Voice), produced by Stephen Murphy & Sharon Goldman, took her artistry in a new and unique direction: She dug deep into her conflicted Orthodox Jewish childhood and emerged with a song cycle that traceds her own journey to find her voice as a passionate woman; a lifelong questioner; and a constant seeker.  KOL ISHA was called "powerful and heartening" (Joe Jencks, Brother Sun); "quite remarkable," (Si Kahn); "an extraordinary effort" (Wanda Fishcher, WAMC); "brilliant," (Ron Olesko, WFDU) and "gripping, powerful and sometimes surprising" (Pat Wictor, Brother Sun). ""Sharon Goldman has truly found her voice with this beautiful album," (John Platt, WFUV)

Sharon also has several other albums in her catalog: 

2014: Silent Lessons
2010: Sleepless Lullaby
2009: Sweet Bitters (duo with Nina Schmir)
2006: Shake the Stars
2004: Semi Broken Heart (as Sharon Edry)
2002: Edge of a Dream (EP as Sharon Edry)

HONORS: 

2019 Finalist, Connecticut Folk Festival Grassy Hill Songwriting Competition
2017 Showcase Artist, Northeast Regional Folk Alliance 
2017 Finalist, South Florida Folk Festival Songwriting Competition 
2017 Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest ~ three honorable mentions
2011 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist Showcase
2011 Boston Showcase Artist, Northeast Regional Folk Alliance
2011 DJ Showcase Artist, Northeast Regional Folk  Alliance

SELECTED VENUES WHERE SHARON HAS PERFORMED: 

Clubs:
The Living Room, New York, NY
Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY
World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA
The Bitter End, New York, NY
The Towne Crier, Beacon, NY
The Kate, Old Saybrook, CT
Jammin' Java, Vienna, VA
Burlap & Bean, Newtown Square, PA
Blue, Portland, ME
Caffe Vivaldi, New York, NY
City Winery, New York, NY
Cornelia Street Cafe, New York, NY
Postcrypt Coffeehouse, New York, NY
Stoltz Listening Room, Easton, MD

House concert series: 
Cozy Cabin Concerts, Green Brook, NJ
First Acoustics, Brooklyn, NY
Notes from Home, Montclair, NJ
New Haven Folk Consortium, New Haven, CT
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Syracuse, NY
Music Over Manhattan, New York, NY
Michael Spear/Philadelphia Folksong Society, Philadelphia, PA
Heights House Concert Series, Jersey City, NJ
Folk Project House Concerts, Morristown, NJ

Concert series: 
Common Ground, Westchester, NY
Minstrel Coffeehouse, Morristown, NJ
Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA
Greenlight Music Series, Madison, NJ
Christopher Street Coffeehouse, New York, NY
Folk Music Society of Huntington, Huntington, NY
Garden Stage, Garden City, NY

Community venues: 
Old Franklin Schoolhouse, Metuchen, NJ
Congregation Beth Shalom/Chevra Shas, Syracuse, NY
Congregation Ner Tamid, Bloomfield, NJ
Hyde Park Library, Hyde Park, NY
Old Franklin Schoolhouse, Metuchen, NJ
Temple Emanu-El, Edison, NJ
Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Brooklyn, NY
American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY
Beahive, Beacon, NY
Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck, NJ
The Fifth Maine, Peaks Island, ME

Festivals: 
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Hillsdale, NY
South Florida Folk Festival, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Muses in the Vineyard, NJ

Live radio appearances: 
WFUV, New York, NY
WFDU, Teaneck, NJ
WIOX, Roxbury, NY
WGDR, Middlebury, VT
WAMC, Albany, NY
WTBQ, Orange County, NY
WMPG, Portland, ME