Bio
About the album “You Go Your Way”
Amy Correia delivers her third album You Go Your Way with a raw power that’s both vulnerable and fierce.” That musical honesty draws comparisons to Tom Waits and Michelle Shocked and The New York Times calls her a “a singular talent.”
Her fans agree, pitching in to raise more than 35k to make Correia’s new record. The energy and urgency of this leap of faith is palpable. You Go Your Way is a spirited ride, covering broad emotional and musical territory. Each song is strikingly individual with Amy’s convincing voice at the center: full of feeling, spontaneity and gravelly soul.
Since her last record, Amy has been living what she describes as a ‘nomadic life,’ and some of her own stories seep into songs that relate people and places with poetic flair.
Written in various locales including several Brooklyn apartments, a Carolina coastal town, a Wyoming cabin, rural Connecticut and Southern Ohio, the new album finds finds its footing not in any specific place, but an immediacy of experience: An unsentimental boy whose father goes to war in Took Him Away. A determined old soul in O Lord. A sexually frustrated woman “sucking on a Tic Tac” in Powder Blue Trans Am. Correia explores the darkness and shines a transformative light with pathos and humor.
Some songs are reveries on old blues and gospel while others veer off into unexpected new ground. Lyrical spareness and mysticism suggest Nick Drake on Broken/Open and the lushly arranged Rock, Tree, River. The waltzy Old Habits is one part Mary Poppins and one part Ogden’s Nutgone Flake by the Small Faces. A five-piece horn section enlivens Carolina Rail, bringing New Orleans panache to a rollicking narrative that could be Flannery O’Connor meets Chuck Berry.
The album basic tracks were recorded in only three days by three musicians in Los Angeles: Jay Bellerose on drums, Paul Bryan on electric bass and Correia singing and playing rhythm guitar, baritone uke or piano. L.A.-based singers Alethea Mills and Chavonne Morris (Jackson Browne) added vocal harmonies a few days later. Producer, Paul Bryan (Aimee Mann), wrote and conducted string quartet arrangements, giving a graceful counterpoint to the album’s lean and driving foundation.
“Ever since I heard Amy years ago, explains producer Paul Bryan, “This is the kind of album I wanted to make with her: rugged, but elegant.” The combination of songs, performances, arrangement and production point to the fulfillment of that vision.
FULL BIO
Amy Correia hails from Lakeville, MA and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her early interest in music was sparked by listening to the radio growing up in the 70s,” when Queen was played after a Bob Dylan song,” Correia reflects, “followed by Sammy Davis, Jr. singing The Candy Man.” The lyrics and stories captured her imagination as much as the music.
Correia left for NYC at seventeen years old to attend Barnard College. She had earned a scholarship to study literature, but a back injury temporarily derailed her in her junior year. She returned home to recuperate and started writing her first songs in bed to pass the time. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a bit of good fortune. “How many times do you get the opportunity to do absolutely NOTHING,” she expalins. “In that quiet space, I discovered my voice.”
She later earned her degree from Barnard and moved to NYC’s Chinatown, performing her homespun tunes on the lower east side where fellow songwriters Jeff Buckley, Jesse Harris, Rebecca Martin and Richard Julian were also honing their skills. Five years later Correia signed a deal with Capitol Records. Billboard called her Capitol debut an “honest-to-God timeless discovery.” After touring extensively around the U.S. supporting John Hiatt, Richard Thompson and Keb Mo, Correia self-funded and then licensed a second album to Nettwerk EMI. The quiet roots-oriented “Lakeville” was a New York Times Critics Choice the year of its release in 2004.
Amy toured the U.S. with Chrissie Hynde (the Pretenders) and JP Jones after the pair saw Correia perform in Philadelphia. Correia has also supported Marc Cohn on a U.S. tour, performing as a member of his band and appearing with him on Ellen, The View, Good Morning America and The Today Show. The CBS News program, CBS Saturday Edition, featured Correia’s efforts to raise money with the help of fans to make her latest album. Exceeding her album fundraising goal, the album “was a new lease on life and a chance for a renewed a connection with my fans. It was a real privilege to have earned their confidence to make something we could all hang our hats on.”
Cover art: Amy Correia, You Go Your Way (2010)