Description
"When you're a superb songwriter who also possesses a flawless voice, the combination can be stunning.' 1996, Rick Overall of the Ottawa Sun wrote this of Amy Sky. In the ten years since the release of her award wining, chart topping debut CD, Cool Rain, Canadians from coast to coast have discovered that Amy is a "world class voice in our own backyard" (Lori Grant- Music Director CHFI). Amy's subsequent releases: Burnt by the Sun, (1998) Phenomenal Woman (2001) and With this Kiss (2003) were embraced by fans, critically acclaimed and became mainstays at Canadian radio . Amy's music has garnered her Juno nominations, SOCAN awards, and East Coast, West Coast and Canadian Independent Music Awards nominations. Through her dynamic live performances, her contributions to many charitable causes, and her eloquent and articulate media interviews, however, a portrait of a performer whose reach rises beyond mere music has emerged. Fans know Amy to be an artist whose insight offers illumination to their own lives. Amy's landscapes are the drama of every day life: the glories and disappointments of love, the ties of family and friends, and one's own relationship with oneself. Most importantly, Amy explores the quest of the human spirit to find meaning . Her writing has been influenced by the work of Dr. Maya Angelou, whose poem Phenomenal Woman Amy set to music, and by Joseph Campbell, whose motto "follow your bliss" is the inspiration for the song Do You Dance. Her CDs are scrapbooks filled with snapshots of life, that enrich the listener's own journey. It is for this reason that the release in 2006 of a retrospective of her best loved songs of the past decade- is called Life Lessons - The Best of Amy Sky. Listeners now have the opportunity to have in one collection, all of the key songs that have made Amy a profound part of their lives. Songs such as I Will Take Care of You and Ordinary Miracles which fans say if they hear in their car they have to pull over to the side of the road because they are crying so hard. Songs with the spine tingling spirituality of If My Heart had Wings and Heaven, the gutsy wisdom of Love Pain and the Whole Damn Thing and Til' You Love Somebody, and the passionate inspiration of Phenomenal Woman. The album also contains three previously unreleased tracks, including Do You Dance a Latin infused toe tapper whose spirited rhythms contain a powerful message about living life to it's fullest, and Wicked Game, a sultry rendition of Chris Isaak's alt-country song that is the perfect showcase for Amy's haunting vocals. Amy is a core artist at radio, and her songs are heard daily on adult contemporary and country radio stations across Canada. Her audience meets her through the medium of radio, but once they own a record, or most importantly have the chance to see Amy perform live, they become ardent fans, who turn to Amy's music for it's inspiration and wisdom. As a songwriter, Amy first graduated with a degree in theory and composition from the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. She then honed her skills living in Nashville and Los Angeles, where she penned tunes for dozens of other artists including Diana Ross, Anne Murray, Aaron Neville, Heart, Cyndi Lauper, Roch Voisine and Sheena Easton. In 2005, she wrote and produced three songs for Olivia Newton Johns CD Stronger Than Before, a CD to raise funds for Breast Cancer research. Included was a version of Phenomenal Woman, featuring Olivia and seven other female singers whose lives have been impacted by cancer, including Patti Labelle, Diahann Carroll and Beth Neilsen Chapman. In 2006, Amy produced and co-wrote with Olivia Newton John a CD for healing and meditation called Grace and Gratitude. Available exclusively at Walgreen's, it is a part of Olivia's line of body, heart and spirit wellness products. She currently lives in Toronto with husband singer songwriter Marc Jordan, and their two children.
