Biography

Amy Black is known for the authenticity of her music as well as the beauty and power of her voice. She began her career in Boston and in a relatively short time developed into a national touring artist. As a vocalist and songwriter, she has explored genres including folk, country, blues, classic R&B, soul and gospel.

Building on the success of her sophomore album, THIS IS HOME recorded in historic Studio A in Nashville with a stellar cast of musicians, Black went to her parents birthplace of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to record at the fabled FAME Recording Studios with infamous keyboardist, Spooner Oldham. The album, THE MUSCLE SHOALS SESSIONS, helped Black to find her musical sweet spot — she knew her next stop had to be Memphis, the place where blues and soul converge (and where she herself was conceived), where Al Green, Otis Redding and so many others turned grit and groove into some of the world’s most beloved tunes. Black hunted down several top musical architects to help her lay down the sound she was meant to make — the sound of Memphis.

Her album, MEMPHIS, put Black on the same continuum as soul sisters from Dusty Springfield, Ann Peebles and Mavis Staples to Bonnie Raitt and Shelby Lynne.

Her original song, Without You, was on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood film The Mule. In March 2020 she released her new single I Have a Choice featuring Blind Boys of Alabama.
When Black wrote the song, she imagined one of her greatest influences, Mavis Staples, singing it (and she would still love to see that happen). But upon deciding to record it herself, she immediately knew who would be perfect to join the project — Blind Boys of Alabama. Black had opened a few shows for the fabled gospel act and had the chance to sing with them on stage. After a Washington D.C. show, she sang her song to Blind Boy Jimmy Carter in the green room and he exclaimed, “That sounds like a Blind Boys’ song!” It was all she needed to start the wheels in motion.
Black explains, “I wrote this song because I wanted to remind myself that I always have a choice of who I’m going to be, how I’m going to act, and how I’m going to respond to whatever life throws my way. I was inspired when I thought of my mom and dad and many others who came before me. It’s encouraging to look at the choices they made, and are still making, to live in kindness and love. I can’t control what others do, I can’t even control my own mind, but I do get to control how I live.”
"One listen and you’ll be convinced that she’s a powerful, authentic, talented and above all soulful." - AMERICAN SONGWRITER MAGAZINE


“Expertly crafted and passionately sung, Amy Black’s Memphis is worth visiting again and again.” —LIVING BLUES