“Refreshingly original, organic and expressive”
Neil March, Trust the Doc
“I can warmly recommend both
Into the Woods and All at Sea”
Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music
Amy writes beautiful thought-provoking songs, designed to comfort, amuse and inspire. She writes mostly in the folk genre and sings traditional folk as well as her own original songs inspired by the likes of Karine Polwart, Emily Portman and Leon Rosselson. She has studied folklore, social anthropology, philosophy and psychology and these interests often creep into her lyrics. Amy weaves her words and melodies together using a range of folk instruments, field recordings and her much-loved multi-layered harmonies.
“Good music makes you think, and this is good music”
Tony Birch, Folking.com
Hands on with all aspects of her music, Amy uses her recording, mixing and production skills to self-publish her music, and her artistic skills to design the album artwork and create music videos. Being a little camera shy, these videos are often in an art-based medium, such as this stop motion animation for her song “Brambles”:
In her latest album, Into the Woods, Amy delves into the psychological themes represented in the old folk and fairy tales and applies them to the way we live now. So, we have the Sleeping Beauty inspired song “Brambles”, where sensitive Rosa has built a wall of thorns around her own heart as a protection from rejection; and “The Liar and the Tailor”, a topical song about politicians and lying which draws on both the Cassandra myth and The Emperor’s New Clothes story. She also explores our ambivalence towards “the wild woods” – both our fear of what might lie within (“Three Impossible Tasks”, “Astrid and the Wolf”) and our deep need for nature (“Where the Wild Bees Go”).
“If you want to hear where the folk tradition is in 2022,
this is the album to listen to”
Tim Martin, reviewer for FATEA
Amy’s disability has made live performance problematic in recent years, but songs from the album continue to do well on streaming services and are regularly played on a wide range of radio stations from BBC 6 Music to more niche national and international folk shows.
Alongside her ‘proper’ job in adult social care policy, Amy also leads “The Songwriting Project”, running community singing and songwriting programmes aimed at reducing social isolation; confidence building and increasing people’s connection with nature. Currently this includes the “Forget-me-not Singing Club” for people living with dementia and/or Parkinson’s disease. You can find out more about The Songwriting Project here.