A bevy of Amys

The world has need of willing Amys
Who wear the worker’s seal.
Come, help the good work move along
Put your amys to the wheel.

.

In a Utah Deseret Industries last month I picked up a cd just because I liked the look of it and because, let’s be frank, it was a woman.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later, enjoying the album for the first time and googling this Amy, that I learned I did know who she was. I first learned of her husband thanks to the appearance of a song of his in a beloved movie. Eventually that song went from new to me to really really liked which led me to investigating him which led to me discovering his wife which led to me discovering the albums they made together which led to consumer paralysis and sort of forgetting the whole thing.

(Incidentally, I have a known interest in married couples who make music. I have a Buddy Miller album and a Julie Miller album and a Buddy and Julie Miller album, as well as albums by music-making couple-bands Haun’s Mill, Shovels and Rope, Low—although when we count music-making couples beyond They the Couple Are the Band, we could go on and on; Tori Amos, for instance.)

My wife, as you can see, likes Tori Amos to the tune of 1,251 files. I like Tori but maybe not that much.

Anyway, back in June when I was quarantining in the woods, I spent a lot of time with our owned-music collection and one of the things I noticed is how certain names are more common than others. I mean, even three Alisons is a lot, right? (1,2,3) I already knew we had a statistically unlikely number of Kaceys (actually, just one Kacey…but also a Kacy and a Kasey), but what else? Since I had nothing else to do, I just wandered through the collection, counting.

Incidentally, whenever possible (unless I have written about a person before and am linking to that), I am linking to artists’ Bandcamp pages today because today is Bandcamp Friday. On Bandcamp Friday, Bandcamp gives its share of all proceeds to the artist. On any day they give a larger percentage to the creators than other streamers/sellers but Bandcamp Friday makes it even better. Good on this Oakland Business! (If you’re wondering, I’m thinking I’ll probably pick up work from free cake for every creature and Snocaps.)

John probably won

while Dave, I thought, underperformed

and Dan overperformed

but, as you may have guessed, Amy did very well indeed.

So lets talk about Amys!

Note: we’re just talking about acts that go as Amy, so perhaps my favorite Amy of all, Amy Gileadi, is excluded. But let’s go! Starting with the new girl, Amy Rigby.

 

This is the first track on the album and thus the first I heard. And it’s a pretty great introduction. She’s a literate and witty lyricist whose music is simple, genre-fluid, and fun. Comparing yourself to Rasputin in a positive way is a cognitive dissonance I’m not quite over but, while I may not be over it, I’m into it. Plus it’s a tight two and a half minutes, just like rock and roll was always meant to be. Welcome to the club, Amy!

Like Amy Ribgy’s album, my Amy Cooper album is vintage 2005. (Literally. Did you know many antiquers define vintage as between 20 and 100 years old?) I don’t remember exactly when I got Water/Fire, but it wasn’t vintage years ago. Yet, alas, this Amy has vanishingly little presence online in 2026. This is the ghost of her old website and happily she’s on Bandcamp, but otherwise…what?

“Hurried Steps“ is a good taste of what Amy’s up to. I quite like the Amy Cooper songs I know, but I bought so many albums from the midnineties to the midaughts and this fits so comfortably among them it could never quite stand out sufficient to move into regular rotation and thus become a go-to favorite. But listening to “Hurried Steps” is pretty solid evidence that she would hold up to closer attention. Maybe someday.

Where are you, Amy?

The Amy I own the most of is, tragically, not an Amy at all. Yes. We are discussing Aimee Mann.

 

I know it’s a little obvious to pick “Save Me” but it’s been on my mind lately because it lost the Oscar. I would be okay with it losing had it lost to the correct song, but egad, Academy voters! “Save Me” is integrated so well into Magnolia, but the entire movie is a tour-de-force of one-artist-soundtracking-a-movie. In my opinion, her take is superior to Simon and Garfunkle’s (The Graduate) or Badly Drawn Boy’s (About a Boy) and equal to Cat Stevens’s (Harold and Maude). (All four, of course, are great.)

(Incidentally, I’m fascinated by this genre. What other movies/soundtracks fit into it? Please tell!)

“Save Me” is a beautiful song and turned Aimee Mann into the icon we know and love today. Not even Red Vines and cigarettes could do that. Congrats, Aimee.

Our next Amy is an Amy my wife…does not care for. See if you can guess why.

 

Ladies and gentlemen: Amy Allison. Who—this is exciting—is not only our fourth Amy but she is also our fourth Allison! How many people get to say that?

I really dig Amy Allison. But I can understand why her voice…might not be everyone’s cup o’ tea. (Metaphor in honor her latest album, as so London it is.)

“Sad Girl” might be the most on-the-nose–possible usecase for her pipes and I recommend listening to the song three times in a row so you can adjust and thus appreciate. I know one thing I appreciate: an artist who can lean right in to self-parody and come out the other side unscathed. Well played, Amy.

 

Back to Black had five charting singles and I had no idea we owned it until I was in quarantine. Where did it come from? I honestly do not know. Maybe Lady Steed bought it? She’s why we have a Lady Gaga album from around the same time, so maybe? Dunno. Anyway, out there in the woods I listened to it for the first time and you know what? It’s really good.

I chose this particular track because it leans even deeper into pop’s past and I love that. I’ll never cease to be amazed that Amy Winehouse purely through the power of her performance brought back the Sixties (and earlier) for a brief shining moment when “Rehab” was inescapable. I’m glad to finally did a deeper dive. Requiescat in pace, Amy.

On the opposite side of Amydom we have this:

 

I liked Amy Grant’s pop music when I was in my early teens but she’d probably be nothing but a vague memory now had I not heard this Christmas album over and over on my mission, and then bought my own copy my first or second Christmas home. I’ve probably listened to this record hundreds of times. Not so often these days, but no one can tell me “Breath of Heaven“ isn’t one of the great holiday numbers.

Merry Christmas, Amy.

 

Our final Amy might be my favorite of this baker’s half dozen. Pretty sure I learned about her on NPR but neither of these two contemporaneous reviews seems to include this track which I feel certain was the hook she set to pull me in. So maybe it wasn’t NPR. Who knows.

The point is this: while I love “Damn Love Song,” the fact is this is a perfect album; I love every single song on it for related but nonidentical reasons. Her voice is incredible, running the gamut from aggressive to vulnerable, and her lyrics are easy to access but rewarding of attention.

In short, Stranger Me is one of those albums artists should never record because they are so perfect I can never tire of them or even desire more. To this date, it is the only Amy LaVere album I own. But you know what? It’s Bandcamp Friday. Maybe I should pick up another…?

Maybe that it was this essay was always about: talking me into more Amy LaVere.

Well played, Amy. Well played.

 

artists mentioned in this post and on bandcamp but not linked to in the substance of the post: Shovels & Rope, Low, John Linnell, Urge Overkill, John Prine, Dan Mangan, Dan Zanes