CAMBRIDGE — Local singer Amy Black played Club Passim on April 3 to release her new album, One Time.
One Time features collaborations with singer and songwriter Mark Erelli, guitarist Tim Gearan, fiddler Stuart Duncan, and dobro guitarist Roger Williams. The music is a combination of sounds such as blues, folk, rock, country and blue grass, which she describes as, “Roots with a little bit of country.”
She draws inspiration from artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton. She recalled when she first heard Raitt sing “A Thing Called Love”.
She thought, “Forget Paula Abdul. I was listening to this and I was thinking ‘Oh my gosh where has this woman been?’”
“There was a moment when I connected with the music that I discovered that I loved and that’s always been at my core,” she said.
For about five years, Black has been habitually writing her music on Sundays. She’s come a long way in her musical career since singing at weddings. By working with her public relations agency and radio press, Black hopes to branch out her music and develop a national following along the Eastern Seaboard.
At times Black feels like she has issues with moving forward with her music; however, she says when she hears other people listening to her songs, knowing the lyrics, and singing along, she feels the rewards of the work put into her music.
Black thinks of herself as the Mick Jagger of Americana. She describes her writing process as a more spontaneous approach.
“They just kind of come to me. I don’t sit down and think I’m going to write a song about this,” she said. “Something just comes to mind like whiskey and wine.”
“Whiskey and Wine” is one of her popular tracks on One Time. One of Black’s personal favorites is “One Time”. Fans also tend to enjoy “Meet Me on the Dance Floor”.
Black also talked about benefit concert that she played at a school for her drummer’s son.
“I felt like I was The Beatles,” Black said. “All the kids came up to the front and were going crazy and were screaming ‘Touch my hand! Touch my hand!’.”
This experience remains one of Black’s favorite performances of her career.
Black will be touring locally from April through September. She’ll be making appearances in Cambridge, Framingham, Shirley, Norwood, and Middleborough.
Follow Amy Black on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or visit her official website.
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