As far as I can tell, Amy Kuney has received a fair amount of coverage on the blog circuit in the last few months, but until just recently, she was completely unknown to me. So after some research, I have discovered that despite being a young artist in her 20’s, Kuney has been through some amazing life experiences that have undoubtedly shaped her to become a very talented songwriter and an artist to keep an eye on.

Much of Kuney’s childhood was spent in Oklahoma, but at the age of thirteen, the family was uprooted to Honduras so that her parents could work as missionaries after the wake of Hurricane Mitch.

Acclimating to life in a different culture was not particularly easy for Kuney, whose family went without a television and radio initially. When it came to entertaining herself, Kuney was left to her own devices. It was then that she began to write short stories, poetry, and eventually, her own songs while playing the piano and learning the guitar.

Having grown up around music (she had started to play piano at the ripe age of four), Kuney’s thirst for songwriting didn’t truly flourish until she survived a chilling experience as a hostage while on a sight-seeing trip to Guatemala when she was seventeen. The experience left Kuney with a new appreciation for life and she has since devoted hers to writing her own stories and putting them to music.

Amy Kuney - Bird's Eye View (2008)

Last year, upon the heels of her self-titled EP, Kuney released her debut album, Bird’s Eye View, a record which has garnered her several positive reviews, many praising her lyrical acuteness and likening her to more mainstream artists ranging from Fiona Apple, Sarah McLachlan and Shawn Colvin.

Bird’s Eye View is a strong, solid effort that introduces Kuney as a very talented artist. The songs here are melodic and well constructed and many are poised for radio, while still able to maintain that singer-songwriter vibe.

Says the woman who sings at the bar
‘This is for you, you know who you are
I was you once, looking for someone
I never found…’
She paints in a low smoky voice
Pictures of bruises, bad days and boys
And how they stood her up just to let her down
~ Amy Kuney

As she begins to build a catalog of her own songs, Kuney has also became a star on YouTube, with several videos of her performing competent cover songs. One of them is her rendition of Damien Rice’s “The Blower’s Daughter.” The highly-rated video prompted an invitation from Rice to join him in Iceland during a number of shows.

In addition to Rice, Kuney has also made fans out of songwriters Kate Voegele and Anna Nalick, and can be found performing shows across the country, likely to earn more. She’s currently set to perform a series of shows in California through March and more shows to follow in Texas.

Video

Amy Kuney – The Blower’s Daughter

Purchase

Spin Move Records | iTunes | Amazon | Amazon MP3

WWW

Official site
Spin Move Records
Amy Kuney @ The Sixty One
Amy Kuney @ MySpace