Basic Information

• About me

  Music connects people in a way no other medium can. I love finding the emotion in events. I love living that little “aha” moment, when you find out that someone else out there feels the way you feel, and can relate to a belief or a moment you lived in which you thought you were totally alone. I also believe that I don’t necessarily create the songs that I write. It feels more as though I tune into a stream that anyone is free to partake from – that once in a while, I get lucky enough to grab a few notes and get them into a form I can remember and recreate for others to hear. It’s not a gift I give – it’s a gift I am given.

• Resume

  California transplant Amelia Blake combines folk/rock, singer/songwriter introspection and alternative country to form a sound that is all her own. The ninth of ten daughters, she’s been playing guitar and writing songs since childhood, heavily influenced by the standards of both her parents’ and grandparents’ musical eras, as well as the sixties’ folk sounds she learned at her older sisters’ feet. The granddaughter of a vaudeville musician and the daughter of a musician father and operatically trained mother, she absorbed the musical surroundings of her upbringing and it shows in her music.Relocation to Louisiana in 1996 may have helped a bit of the blues seep into the mix, but the core of the music is still its emotion. Whether it’s a finger-plucked, quiet melody or a jazzy romp, the song is the focus.Amelia’s voice has been described as reminiscent of Eva Cassidy, Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith, but her singing style harkens back to the golden age of movie musicals.She has opened for some of Americana music’s finest performing songwriters, including Slaid Cleaves, Mike Graham and Chuck Pyle. The release of her first studio album, Old Horses, in 2003 opened new doors, one of which was the inclusion of her music on the nationally syndicated radio show, Laney Goodman’s Women In Music. Her songs have been cut by Shanna Crooks, Klancy Johnson, Shelby Downing and Stacy James.In 2008, Amelia was one of only 19 songwriters chosen by Nashville writer Skip Ewing for a scholarship to attend his brainchild: songwriting retreat/workshop, “Horse & Writer“. (see http://www.horseandwriter.com) 2008 was the first year that songwriters were chosen to attend based on their writing abilities, and Amelia was thrilled and honored to be included in the lineup.When not touring regionally, Amelia makes her home in Northwest Louisiana with her four children and a host of family pets.