| Amelia Curran | |
|---|---|
| Born | St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada |
| Genres | Indie rock Folk rock Alternative country |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Six Shooter |
| Website | www.ameliacurran.com |
Amelia Curran is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and currently lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The National Post describes her music as “a bit like Leonard Cohen being channeled in a dusty saloon by Patsy Cline.”[1]
Curran started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager[2] and eventually dropped out of university in order to busk on the streets of St. John’s.[3] That led to her first album release in 2000, and since then she has released four more.
Her 2006 release, War Brides, was initially released independently and was later given a European and national Canadian release by Six Shooter Records. She describes her signing to Six Shooter Records as a “promotion” and goes on to say “I have a lot more work to do, more often, as a result of which I will make some more money and sell some more records. But it is the same job that I have been doing for ten years.”[4]
War Brides was nominated for two East Coast Music Awards: Folk Recording of the Year and Female Solo Recording of the Year.[5]
In 2009, Curran released Hunter, Hunter. She describes this album as “a little tougher than War Brides but it’s still minimal”. She explains that the title is “Hunter Hunter as opposed to hunter-gatherer.”[6] This is the first album that she recorded in her home-town of St. John’s.[7]
Curran’s lyrics have been described as "evocative" by Spinner Canada who, referring to Curran’s song “The Mistress”, wrote that “Like the best poets, Curran packs so much meaning into each line that the listener barely has time to register each clever lyric before the next zinger comes along.”[8]
Hunter Hunter earned Curran four nominations at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards; Female Solo Recording of the Year, FACTOR Recording of the Year, SOCAN Songwriter of the Year and Folk Recording of the Year.[9]
In addition to being a musician, Curran is also a playwright and actor, and has had her plays performed in fringe festivals.[10]
On April 17, 2010, Curran won a Juno Award in the category of Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo.[11] Curran also won first prize (Folk category) of the prestigious 15th Annual USA Songwriting Competition.