It was a warm September morning in San Bernardino as I rolled up to the television recording studios in good time to oversee the stage set up in preparation for the Season 1 shooting over the next couple of days. It was still early morning and the studio employees had not yet arrived for work. As I parked my car in the empty employees parking lot, I spotted a pristinely clean black Escalade parked adjacent to the rear entrance. The glass was blacked out so I couldn’t see if there were any occupants in the vehicle. It somewhat reminded me of a scene from a mafia –style movie. As I exited my vehicle, carrying a compact digital audio mixer (rather like a rifle case), the Escalade started up and purred over to me. Was I going to get assassinated by the Berdo mafia ?!
The Escalade driver window slid down silently and the well dressed lady at the wheel asked “Are you Nick? I’m Sophia’s Mom.” I welcome Debra Bollman and her wonderfully talented daughter Sophia into the studio. As they were a little early I settled them into the green room to relax ready for the filming.
A recent high school graduate from Riverside, California, Sophia Bollman was raised by a single mom who supported her and encouraged her musical career. At the age of 13, Sophia got involved with the non-profit organization Kids Rock Free and was quickly placed in two different rock cover bands. Her main band, No Surrender, was an eight-piece band made up of kids ages 12-17. They performed about six times a month at local events and had the chance to perform for KISS stars Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley at their restaurant, Rock & Brews, in 2016. Now, she is ready to take the next step toward being a solo artist and has now performed several times as a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice”.
Sophia’s performance on Musicology was awesome and she attracted some of the highest viewer ratings when her episode was aired on PBS television. Her career is developing nicely and if we could place a bet on who on the show would ‘make it’, Sophia would be towards (if not at) the top of the list.
