Amy England
Singer-songwriter Amy England just released her newest cd entitled "Nantucket to Nashville”. The Nantucket musician will be performing at several festivals & and concerts this year including opening for Jo Dee Messina on her Music Room Series Tour. Maverick Magazine is calling England, “A writer and singer destined to make a major impression on the Americana scene.”
England recorded her new cd in Nashville under the direction of multi-time Grammy winner Bil VornDick. VornDick’s projects read like a who's who of Nashville artists including Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, Ralph Stanley, Bela Fleck and some not so Nashville names like Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Bruce Hornsby. England met VornDick at the annual Folk Alliance conference in Austin Texas where he heard her play.
“One of England's greatest strengths”, says Bil VornDick “is her exceptional songwriting. Depending on different album projects, I listen to hundreds if not thousands of songs, and her songs caught my ear.
VornDick lined up an all star band for England while she was in Nashville: Guitarists Johnny Hiland and flatpicker Russ Barenberg, known for his work with Bluegrass artist Jerry Douglas; Mark Fain on bass and Andy Leftwich on fiddle, both part of Ricky Skaggs band; and drummer Bob Mater, who plays with Nancy Griffith.
Producer Bil VornDick also helped England to get five songs from the “Nantucket to Nashville” signed to prominent Nashville publishers Jim and John Denny. Denny Music Group is currently working to get the songs into the hands and ears of Country Billboard charting artists.
Carmel Sheerin and the Ravens who were voted #1 European Bluegrass Band 2006, by the European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA), recorded England's song "The Wave" and are featuring the cut on their latest release "Here With You", also featuring cuts by Tim O'Brien, Charlie McGettigan and Kevin Sheerin.
http://www.bluegrassravens.com/
England says “Being able to make this recording in Nashville with Bil was a dream come true. The musicians were great and we had a lot of fun making the cd” says England. The ten songs were on “Nantucket to Nashville” were recorded at Bil VornDick’s Mountainside Studios. The studio is complete with a dancehall ballroom harkening back the building’s former life as a popular roadhouse where artists from Patsy Cline to J.J. Cale performed and communed.
“In one month I learned so much about music and Country music history. Even though I stayed pretty busy working – sometimes twelve hour days in the studio – I wrote a lot while I was there. Nashville is such a rich town, with warm beautiful countryside and amazing talent all around, it’s hard not to be inspired.”
Born Amy Harding Hunt, England was raised in Pound Ridge, NY to a large family of six children. Her music and writing is steeped in family tradition. "Our dad brought us up on Country music. He was an editor but played banjo on the side and my mom was always playing the piano and singing. My grandma made sure we all had piano lessons; she was a great fiddle player herself. She loved us to be in touch with our Irish roots through music. My great-grandfather founded Nolan's Marching Band, who were big in Brooklyn in the 1920's" England says. "We grew up with music around." England's brother, Andrew Hunt, also in Brooklyn, released his third CD, Broken Wheel, on Rustic Records/Hayden's Ferry. England now lives with her husband and daughter on Nantucket Island.
Roots Music Report, where England’s first cd “Heart Like Mine” charted on the top 40 Folk chart, says, "It's interesting that a singer/songwriter of great talent would live on a small island. This folk singer guitarist finds a lot of great hooks around Nantucket but you don't have to live on an island to identify with Amy's words ... her stories are universal." England gives thanks on her cd to “Nantucket Island, for the island people, the island spirit, for the summer splendor and even more for the little known beauty of the dream season.”
“I owe a lot to the island,” says England, “it’s a great muse, and always provides new inspiration.” Bil VornDick adds “Amy's songs are like sitting on a beach with good friends, in front of a campfire.”
Information, cds and downloads available online from:
amyengland.net
cdbaby.com
myspace.com/amyenglandmusic
facebook.com