Amy LaVere is an American singer, songwriter, and

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

player based in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Her music is classified as Americana. She has released six albums on Memphis label Archer Records.

Early life

LaVere was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, and grew up in Bethany, Louisiana, a small

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

–

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

border town in the Piney Woods region,Boden, Sarah
"Flash Forward"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', July 13, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2011 nurtured by musical parents with a passion for traditional country music. Her family moved 13 times by the time she entered high school, ultimately landing in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

where LaVere fronted the

alt rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Last Minute while still in her teens.

Career

The early 1990s found LaVere in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

as part of the burgeoning

Lower Broadway Broadway is a major thoroughfare in the downtown area in Nashville, Tennessee. It includes Lower Broadway, a tourist and entertainment district renowned for honky tonks and live country music. The Broadway Historic District or Honky Tonk Highway ...

scene, where she began to play upright bass as half of the popular roots duo The Gabe & Amy Show. By 1999, she had moved to Memphis where she began work at

Sun Studio Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records la ...

. In early 2006, LaVere released her debut album ''This World Is Not My Home'' on indie label Archer Records to instant national acclaim. She was joined on her album by many accomplished artists, including southern bluesman

Jimbo Mathus James H. Mathis Jr. (born August 1967), known as Jimbo Mathus, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and member of the gypsy jazz, hot jazz band Squirrel Nut Zippers. Early life and career He was born in Oxford, Mississippi to Jimmy Math ...

, formerly of the

Squirrel Nut Zippers Squirrel Nut Zippers is an American swing and jazz band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by James "Jimbo" Mathus (vocals and guitar), Tom Maxwell (vocals and guitar), Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo, ukulele), Chris Phillips (d ...

. The ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'' raved at the time, "Something like this doesn't come along every day." LaVere also began a nascent acting career starting with her cameo as

Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

queen

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American retired singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of Rock music, rock, Country music, country and Gospel music, gospel. She was among th ...

in ''

Walk The Line ''Walk the Line'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies by the American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash: '' Man in Black: His Own ...

'' and continued with featured role in Craig Brewer's '' Black Snake Moan''. In 2007, LaVere went into the studio with producer, Jim Dickinson to record her second album, ''Anchors & Anvils''. Dickinson captured LaVere and band at his Zebra Ranch recording barn 'art project' in rural Mississippi. Archer Records released ''Anchors and Anvils'' in May 2007. Her second album rose to number six on the Americana Music Charts and earned LaVere a nomination for the Americana Music Association Awards' Best New Or Emerging Artist. She toured the United States from coast to coast, played a series of dates with The Swell Season, performed at the Austin City Limits Festival, and shared the stage at the Americana Music Conference with

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

, Todd Snider, and others. On October 1, 2008, she opened for Seasick Steve at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 2009 she opened for musical group Lucero on their 1372 Overton Park US Tour and also toured as a special guest with Seasick Steve. In 2011, LaVere released her third album ''Stranger Me'' to critical acclaim. ''

Spin Magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps as ''SPIN'') is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. ...

'' called it "the breakup album of the year." ''

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

'', the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' and ''The Sun'' all awarded it four stars. ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

'' said: "LaVere could rest on her lyrics alone, which are witty and feisty enough to stand on their own, but by giving her band boundless license to indulge any whim or eccentricity, she has crafted a well-rounded album that is already among the year's best." In July 2011, LaVere and her band (guitarist David Cousar, violinist/keyboardist Krista Wroten-Combest and drummer Shawn Zorn), promoted the UK release of ''Stranger Me'' in London and France. On September 28, 2011, LaVere was named "Best Singer in Memphis" for the second consecutive year by the city of Memphis, Tennessee. In the spring of 2012, LaVere joined band leader Luther Dickinson (of The North Mississippi Allstars), guitarist Shannon McNally, banjo player

Valerie June Valerie June Hockett (born January 10, 1982),Hubbell, John (2009),, ''The Commercial Appeal'', May 28, 2009.(aged 27 in May 2009). is an American singer, songwriter, Grammy-nominated, multi-instrumentalist, and author.Barnett, Laura (2012),One to ...

and drummer and fife player Sharde Thomas, in the quintet bluegrass group, The Wandering. They released their debut album "Go On Now, You Can't Stay Here", and spent the spring of 2012 touring after the record's release. LaVere and McNally have partnered up to tour as a duo in October 2012 as part of their "Chasing the Ghost" tour. In 2013 LaVere teamed up with Memphis musician John Paul Keith and longtime live drummer Shawn Zorn, performing and recording as "Motel Mirrors". In 2014 Amy released her 6th Studio record "Runaway's Diary". It was produced by Luther Dickinson In 2019 Amy released her 7th studio record "Painting Blue" This record was produced by her husband Will Sexton To date Amy continues to tour and write music.

Discography

*2006: ''This World Is Not My Home'' *2007: ''Anchors and Anvils'' *2009: "Died of Love" (EP) *2011: '' Stranger Me'' *2014: '' Runaway's Diary'' *2015: ''Hallelujah I'm a Dreamer'' (live album) *2019: ''Painting Blue''

References

Watch

Amy LaVere quartet performance on November 30, 2011, at Sportsmens Tavern and Music Hall in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

Set 1

Set 2

External links

Amy LaVere at Archer Records

"Amy LaVere: Country with a Cathartic Twang"
by David Dye, '' World Cafe'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, May 14, 2007
It's Anchors Away For Amy LaVere
at HonestTune.com
Amy Lavere – IMDb
profile on IMDb.com *

Paste Magazine Review * https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2020/03/amy-lavere-painting-blue/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavere, Amy Living people American double-bassists American women singer-songwriters People from Caddo Parish, Louisiana 21st-century American double-bassists 1975 births 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Thirty Tigers artists