The name “Soda” was born out of a misunderstanding of identity with a bartender at the famed Maple Leaf Bar in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Maybe it was the hint of the Mississippi River in the air floating down Oak Street or the electric energy of the band in the background but something about this fizzy moniker stuck to his river heart.
Soda Canter proudly grew up in Southern Maryland on the shores of the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers. Raised in equal parts by those that went to church on Sundays, those that worked on the water, and those that were consistently in and out of prison. This trifecta best represents his life. A struggling rule follower who’s called to the water and can’t seem to stay out of trouble.
Whether song, story or experimental piece, Soda brings all of this light and darkness into his work through an untethered, filterless approach. Always with the goal of desperately seeking the unbridled truth. Finding a little bit of laughter. And never to prevent the act of creation by stopping at the roadblock of ill sought perfection.
A waiter. An ice cream maker. A janitor. A student. A Marine. An educator. A communicator. A lawyer. Like most, he’s lived quite a few chapters. Some were for him but most were for others. Now settled in Wilmington, North Carolina—he yearns only to be a creator and to build a far reaching artistic life that his heart has yet to fully envision.