Artist of the Week: Amy Kuney

With her airy and soulful vocals, Amy Kuney has been making waves in the music scene. A YouTube sensation, Amy gained the attention of Damien Rice for her cover of his song "Blower's Daughter." (Watch it below).



Rice then asked her to travel to Iceland and open his tour for him. Not too shabby for being heard on YouTube. In addition, Amy's songs have been featured on shows like "One Tree Hill" and "Gilmore Girls." While she's been compared to Fiona Apple and Sarah McLachlan, it's her storytelling that transpires best throughout her music.

From first track, "Simple Things" on Kuney's debut album, Bird's Eye View, I was hooked. Her honest and at times, sarcastic and playful lyrics, take you on a journey, always keeping the listener curious as to what will happen at the end of each song. "Simple Things" draws comparisons to fellow up-and-comer Priscilla Ahn, but a bit more edgy.

In fact, most of her album has that laid-back soulful, yet jazzy acoustic singer-songwriter feel. It's hard to place Kuney into one specific genre. Her songs are catchy and encompass much depth, both musically and lyrically, even having musician Kate Voegle call her an "amazing lyricist."

"Rocket Surgery" is a fun track, at times slightly reminiscent to that of a circus with its musical accompaniment complete with horns and piano interludes. Cleverly telling the tale of a yearning romance with lyrics, "So hold me, don't think too hard about it/Would common sense allow it?/You wait too long and you'll lose me/Just do it when you get the urging/Oh its not rocket surgery/When you know you love someone it's easy" Kuney clearly gets her point across.

A favorite track of mine on Bird's Eye View is "Love is Trippy." An intriguing song, aptly titled, "Love is Trippy" tells the tale of not always being able to figure out love so easily. With solid horn features accentuating the track extremely well, Kuney sings on the chorus, "But love is trippy like that/Sometimes you think that you've got it/Nobody's gonna trick you outta this one baby/But love will slip through your hands/You never know how to hold it/Control it you're gripping/It's tripping you up." Once again, Kuney showcases her songwriting with lyrics that are thoroughly relatable to many.

With her entertaining narratives throughout each song and soft, but jazzy vocals, Amy Kuney is bound to continue to take the music world by storm, one album and YouTube cover at a time.

Be sure to check Amy out on MySpace as well as her Web site. Check out her cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" below and watch as she harmonizes with herself.