‘When We Rise’ release party

What: Six-song CD debut by Sophie Engkvist

When: 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24

Where: Adagio Bean & Leaf, 981 E. Washington St.

For more: See www.sophiaengkvist.com

The inspiration can come from different parts of the world around her, Sophie Engkvist says — even from inside.

“It’s the whole world — I never know where it’s going to come from,” says the Sequim-based singer-songwriter.

From a story in the news to a bird flying by, the next tune oftentimes simply happens.

“I just kind of find it everywhere. I don’t listen to a lot of other people’s music,” Engkvist says.

“I have a lot of sound going inside of me.”

That’s the root of Engkvist’s newest creation, a six-song EP “When We Rise” she created with the help of Sequim producer Jeremy Cays and a trio of instrumentalists.

“When We Rise” — which Engkvist plans to showcase in an open house release party set for 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, at Adagio Bean and Leaf, 981 E. Washington St. — is actually a two-and-a-half-year labor of love project. Engkvist and Cays will be on hand to talk about the EP.

“These were the songs in my head (going) around and around,” Engkvist says. “They seemed to all fit the theme of, ‘Raising up the planet.’ It was logical to put it all together.”

On her recent EP, Engkvist provides the words and melody while guest artists Nancy Rumbel (of Tingstad & Rumbel fame) on English horn and oboe, local violin phenom Kate Powers and Nashville, Tenn., artist Mark Baldwin on guitar fill out the sound.

“Nancy is a producer, too, and I’d say, ‘If you have any other ideas, add them in’ and many of them we used in the final product,” Cays says. “You want them to create, to some degree. (When) you work with good people, it’s going to be better. They bring their own thing and it ends up that much better than I could have done myself.”

“All of the artists are tremendous,” Engkvist says. Baldwin’s additions in particular were “beyond what we imagined; I didn’t have that overall sound in my mind at all.”

Cays was similarly effusive about the guitarist’s additions.

“He knows exactly what needs to happen,” Cays says. “You basically give them a song and they know what to do. In a way you can consider it a roll of the dice, but it’s really not because, (musicians like Baldwin) are really good.

“(What he added) warms up everything. It doesn’t make it cluttered or noisy-sounding.”

Putting it all together is Cays, the Carlsborg-based studio owner/producer/engineer with a bevy of local and regional clients.

The challenge with this EP, Cays says, was simply figuring out how the songs would evolve.

“That’s part of the fun of it — it’s really a discovery process, especially with Sophia,” Cays says. “I think she liked the process of trying new things, seeing what might work. She was really open to whatever.”

The two had worked on an album a few years ago and were familiar with each other, Cays says.

“Part of the challenge was, was the style the same or not?” Cays says, noting their first project had more of a New Age or world music feel. “We decided some of it is going to be very different. It has that (New Age) undertone with sort of a pop electronic, a more modern feel.”

“For her, it always came back to what she was singing. For me, it always had to go back to supporting her voice.”

“He’s a genius,” Engkvist says. “Anyone who works with him knows they sound way better when he gets done. He knows everything.”

For Engkvist, music is more of a hobby — she’s been a full-time pet sitter in the area for about 18 years — but she’d like to make it more of her professional trade.

She was introduced to playing crystal bowls while living in Sedona, Ariz., and that sparked in her a world of music.

“I’m not an instrumentalist,” Engkvist says. “Often when I create, I’m singing with nothing or playing my crystal bowls. Usually the words and melody will come all together. When I moved here I got my first crystal bowl and started a collection. It inspires me to sing. Any sort of drone effect — the wind, surf, ocean — that drone kind of sound somehow inspires me to sing. It just brings it out in me.”

While she’s not pet-sitting, making more music or learning to create her own music videos, Engkvist is busy promoting her EP with a portion of sales she plans to donate to charities.

“This is not just about the music,” she says “(It’s) about being able to give back … and spreading the message of the music.”

See www.sophiaengkvist.com for more, including samples from “When We Rise.”

Learn more about Cays’ studio at jeremycaysproductions.com.

Reach editor Michael Dashiell at editor@sequimgazette.com.