Amy Millan

Image: Kirstie Shanley | Amy Millan at Vic Theater (2008)

Singer-songwriter, Amy Millan, informed her publicist, I wanted to make a record that had a thru line between pop music and old, country music. Former roommates—who were bluegrass musicians—may have had something to do with her country music influence. She struggled to bring about an indie-country mind-meld, until someone told her that her voice was the key. I suppose, she also needs to realise: if she actually began to write perfectly blended—50/50—pop-country songs, she may not be able to turn such an ability off. Some gifts are like that.

Her latest CD, Honey from the Tombs, contains some pop, much country, a bluegrass tune, and then there is one track that departs from all that—the dark horse of the album, Wayward and Parliament. Amy worked at a coffeeshop on Parliament street in Toronto, Canada that housed a collection of about 3000 CDs. There, she got hooked on music by Brian Eno. Pitchfork deemed the track an experimental anomaly. Such manifestations of creativity are part of what help keep the indie genre alive.

Arts & Crafts: Amy Millan