Amy Wadge
Encyclopedia
Early life and musical beginnings
Amy Wadge (born 1975) was born and brought up in BackwellBackwell
Backwell is a suburban village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It falls within the Unitary Authority of North Somerset and has a population of 5,455.It is south west of Bristol, on the A370 to Weston-super-Mare...
, a small village just outside Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Her father's passion for music influenced Amy enormously and she was exposed to the sounds of everyone from The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
to Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
to Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, from a very tender age. She started writing her own songs at the age of nine, originally on the family piano. Then, when she was 11 her parents bought her, her first guitar from a junk shop. Amy taught herself to play along to Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
's debut album
Tracy Chapman (album)
Tracy Chapman is the self-titled debut album by singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released in 1988.-History:Tracy Chapman hit #1 on both the US & UK album charts. The album was critically acclaimed and helped to launch the 1990s female singer-songwriter movement, which included artists like Tori...
and she discovered her passion for the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
.
While still at school, she regularly gigged around Bristol's numerous, celebrated music venues. Amy caught the performing bug and determined that this was what she was going to do. At the age of 14, she signed her first record deal with her band 'Two Of A Mind' and released her first single at the age of 16.
Career
Having moved to WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and graduated from the Royal Welsh College and Music and Drama
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is a conservatoire within the University of Glamorgan Group located in Cardiff, Wales....
, she started performing at Open Mic sessions in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
's Toucan Club and soon started developing a fan base and gaining critical recognition. She was quickly spotted and received encouragement from some of the big players in the city, among them, Manics/Catatonia
Catatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
/Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
producer, Greg Haver, who recorded her debut mini-album, The Famous Hour. So striking was this album that the BBC invited her to launch the digital radio station BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
along with Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
and The Stereophonics
Stereophonics
The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...
.
In 2002, Wadge won "Best Female Solo Act" at the annual Welsh Music Awards, ahead of Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
. In 2003 she toured Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
with the Welsh Rugby Team during the Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
with the song Adre Nôl. Later that year she retained her "Best Female Solo Act" at the Welsh Music Awards.
2004 saw her release her first full album, WOJ - a play on her surname, which is often mispronounced - to critical acclaim.
2006 saw the release of her second album, No Sudden Moves. The album includes a cover of the Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
single A Design For Life
A Design for Life
"A Design for Life" was released by Manic Street Preachers in 1996 and was the first single release from the Everything Must Go album of May that same year.The title was inspired by the Joy Division EP record "An Ideal for Living"...
.
2008 saw the release of her third album, Bump which (according to her own sleeve notes) was recorded over two days when she was 8 months pregnant. It includes a cover of Don't Leave Me This Way
Don't Leave Me This Way
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is an R&B/soul/disco song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. First charting as a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an act on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1975, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was later a hit single for both...
(originally recorded by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco...
, and later covered by The Communards
The Communards
The Communards were a British pop duo active from 1985 to 1988. They are most famous for their cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' song, "Don't Leave Me This Way" as well as "Never Can Say Goodbye".-History:...
).
On Monday 2 November 2009, Amy released her new single "Hold Me" with new record label, Choice Music. Amy also released a Welsh version of the track ("Dal Fi") which was a fundraiser for her daughter’s ‘Ysgol Feithrin’ (Welsh nursery schools), with 20p from the sale of every Welsh language download being donated to the Welsh Nursery Schools Movement.
Personal life
Amy is married to actor Alun ap Brinley, lives in WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and is currently learning Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
. In fact, her single USA? We'll wait and see was released in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
.
Albums
- The Famous Hour (mini-album) (2002) - FF VinylFF VinylFF Vinyl Records was an independent record label based in Cardiff, UK that released 36 records between 1997 and 2006.Acts included Amy Wadge, The International Karate Plus , The Martini Henry Rifles and Tom Hingley .The label has since become a management company , dealing with The Automatic....
- WOJ (2004) - Manhaton Records
- No Sudden Moves (2006) - Manhaton Records
- Bump (2008) - Amy Wadge Records
- Acoustig (2009)
Singles
- The Great Pretender (1992)
- Saddest Eyes (2001) - FF VinylFF VinylFF Vinyl Records was an independent record label based in Cardiff, UK that released 36 records between 1997 and 2006.Acts included Amy Wadge, The International Karate Plus , The Martini Henry Rifles and Tom Hingley .The label has since become a management company , dealing with The Automatic....
- Just in Time (2004) - Manhaton Records
- USA? We'll wait and see.../USA, oes angen mwy...? (2005) - Manhaton Records
- A Design for Life (2005) - Manhaton Records
- Hold Me (2009) - Choice Music