Sydney Small: A Voice That Holds A Room Still

Sydney Small is a New York based vocalist and songwriter whose sound sits at the intersection of soul, jazz, and contemporary R&B. She blends emotional honesty with technical control and brings a warmth and presence to the stage that feels rare. Her performances balance vulnerability with strength, and she has a natural ability to take familiar songs and make them feel entirely her own. She writes constantly, pulling from her experiences, her emotions, and her instinctive connection to language. Sydney is an artist who knows who she is, and she performs with that same clarity.

Sydney Small has one of those rare voices you do not come across often. There is immense soul in it. Real soul. The kind that comes from depth, control, and a life that has actually been lived. The second she begins to sing, the entire room shifts. Her voice takes the space and keeps everyone in the palm of her hand. There are hints of Amy Winehouse in her tone, and there is that Erykah Badu quality too. The same warmth, the same restraint, the same quiet power.

Watching her at The Groove felt almost hypnotic. Her voice is rich and beautiful, but it is the emotion she carries that pulls you in. You can see it press through her face with every line. You can feel each word move through her body before it reaches you. And her band worked with her in a way that felt seamless. It was all fluid, all intentional, and genuinely beautiful to witness.

Artists like Sydney are the reason I do this work. These are the moments I want to capture. When someone has something unique and special that genuinely makes your jaw drop. She has that.

I also had the privilege of interviewing her afterward and learning more about the way her mind works. She was open, articulate, and incredibly self aware.

“What emotion sits at the center of your voice? Love, grief, longing, rebellion, or something else entirely.”

Small: “I'd say hardship, everything that I've gone through, I'm able to do this is my therapy. So I'm able to convey how I'm feeling. And it's my way of expressing emotions. And definitely a little rebellion.”

“Before performing, do you have any rituals, spiritual, practical, or emotional, that center you?”

Small: “I like talking to people because it gets me kind of excited just to be playing the people because I do this because I want people to peel my music. Even though I cover songs, I make them my own. My ritual is to talk to people. It's not to be silent. So it’s a little different from other people.”

“The songs come to you as words, sensations or sounds first?” 

Small: “Words. And for most people, I'd say it sounds or rhythms or some sort of melody. I have a bunch of words, and right now I'm in the process, so finding melodies and rhythms. I'm basically writing 24/7.” 

“What does silence mean to you as an artist who lives through sound?”

Small: “Silence is hard, but it's also time to reflect and have a moment. I don't have a lot of silence in my life because there's always music playing, even if I'm writing, I have music playing. But silence is very important. And you have to be able to sit with your thoughts. And also for your voice, you gotta rest your voice here in there.”