Ten-year-old Sophia Martin, who performs under the name The Girl From the North Country, was born in Valdez but lives in Thorne Bay on Prince of Wales Island.
Sophia has been writing and performing songs on the island since she was seven. Creating the music video for the original song "Stubborn Girl" was a family affair. Martin's mother Katie is featured on guitar and her father Isaac plays mandolin, while her two little sisters and little brother play on the beach nearby. Martin wrote the song on the piano one rainy afternoon with Katie by her side.
Martin's biggest performance to date was at the Alaska Folk Festival this past April in Juneau. She is an avid outdoors girl who shot her first deer at age nine and caught her first salmon unassisted when she was eight. Currently she is off on her first moose hunt. For more information about the Martin family and their lives in Thorne Bay, visit their blog, Steal Away North.
To submit your video to Alaska Dispatch News, contact Tara Young at tara(at)alaskadispatch.com.