Amy Cunningham

Bio

Amy Cunningham was born in Brampton, Ontario; a beginning that sparked a love for cultural diversity and a longing for a more “natural” life of Ocean, trees, and open road. “A lot of my favourite memories as a child center around music and family road trips. I would sit in the front seat with my dad and sing my heart out along with James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Carole King, and Tom Cochrane”, she remembers. Amy comes from a family of musicians, and her grandfather is an accomplished guitar player who would sit in with acts such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash when they toured through Toronto. “All of our family gatherings involved Grandpa and dad on guitar, and the rest of us singing. My cousins and brother and I were all inspired to pick up instruments born of that influence,” says Amy.

Amy has been writing and performing for as long as she remembers. During her university years, Amy fronted a popular local band in the Niagara region, playing sold out shows for enthusiastic audiences every week. Her band shared the stage with many talented musicians, opening for acts like Jeremy Fisher, Sam Roberts, and Craig Cardiff. ” When Amy sings, people stop and listen. I have seen it many times, in many different places. There’s a hold that her voice has on people," says former band-mate Rachel McBride. “There’s something about its purity and soul that makes you want to listen and connect with her.”  

While writing her Masters thesis, she was drawn West. “I was blessed to do some of my data collection in Vancouver and Hawaii. I studied the facilitation of group drumming; these amazing people who shared their spirits and taught people that everyone can create music in some capacity. I had always wished others could experience how great it feels to make music with others, and I tapped into this wonderful community that was dedicated to teaching others to let go, play, and connect to themselves and each other through music,” she explains. Amy facilitates and teaches hand drumming to the youth groups she works with, and loves watching the barriers come down.

As a result of her first trip to Vancouver, Amy found herself continuously drawn to spend summers travelling and playing music in the West of Canada. Living in Jasper, AB, Victoria, BC, as well as stints in Vancouver, the West Kootenays and the Gulf Islands. “I can just breathe so deeply out here. There’s something about the West that feels really familiar to me,” she says. “The whimsical part of me is constantly inspired”. She made the permanent move to British Columbia in the spring of 2008.

Writing music, singing for anyone who wants to listen and getting her messages out are her passion and focus right now. “I’ve always been really moved by what happened in the 60s and 70s with regard to music…social commentary, reaching out, songs about universal concepts. Most of my music falls in this category, and my hope is that it touches people, sparks some reflection, and generally makes people smile ” she explains.

In the fall of 2010 she began recording her first commercially available album entitled “To the stars we’ll return” produced by talented Vancouver Island local, Corwin Fox. Featured are the beautiful dobro stylings of Doug Cox and percussion and saxophones by Jake Jenne, along with a slew of other talented BC musicians. The album will be available in July, and a national release tour is scheduled for the fall of 2011.

“My mom says I was singing before I was talking…I don’t remember ever deciding to be a musician, it was just always pouring out of me,” she says passionately. “Music is in me, and it pretty much always wants out!” she laughs. It is obvious that this is a dream that Amy has been living and moving toward her whole life. At the same time there is a fresh feeling that she’s only just begun.