Biography
In the Philadelphia region during the 1990s, Amber deLaurentis ranked among the leading female singer/songwriters working in pop, rock, and adult alternative. Although she never achieved widespread national recognition in that decade, the storyteller earned consistent praise from local critics and built a modest but loyal following within the city and its suburbs. Her songwriting and performances draw heavily from Carole King and Bonnie Raitt, while traces of Aretha Franklin surface in certain vocal deliveries. Primarily a pop/rock artist, deLaurentis also absorbs classic soul from the 1960s and 1970s, an influence that becomes apparent to attentive listeners. Her powerful, full-bodied delivery rejects any suggestion of fragility; instead, the singing remains robust, gritty, and steeped in blues feeling.
Audiences at her Philadelphia shows typically overlap with enthusiasts of Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne, Sheryl Crow, Patty Griffin, and Melissa Etheridge—women whose work likewise blends soulfulness with pronounced blues elements. That same blues sensibility extends beyond vocals into deLaurentis’s acoustic piano work, where a New Orleans-inspired approach evokes Professor Longhair and James Booker. She also plays organ. DeLaurentis did not attend high school inside Philadelphia proper; she graduated from a school in Collingswood, New Jersey, where she first met her partner, lyricist, and manager Sarah Blue. After high school the pair relocated to New England and enrolled at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. DeLaurentis concentrated on music while Blue studied English, and the two formed their creative partnership during those college years.
Upon completing their degrees, deLaurentis and Blue settled in Philadelphia. With Blue’s assistance, deLaurentis established herself as a regular presence on the local club circuit throughout the 1990s. In 2001 she captured the live EP By George! Live at the Tin Angel for the Delayed Reaction label.
Audiences at her Philadelphia shows typically overlap with enthusiasts of Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne, Sheryl Crow, Patty Griffin, and Melissa Etheridge—women whose work likewise blends soulfulness with pronounced blues elements. That same blues sensibility extends beyond vocals into deLaurentis’s acoustic piano work, where a New Orleans-inspired approach evokes Professor Longhair and James Booker. She also plays organ. DeLaurentis did not attend high school inside Philadelphia proper; she graduated from a school in Collingswood, New Jersey, where she first met her partner, lyricist, and manager Sarah Blue. After high school the pair relocated to New England and enrolled at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. DeLaurentis concentrated on music while Blue studied English, and the two formed their creative partnership during those college years.
Upon completing their degrees, deLaurentis and Blue settled in Philadelphia. With Blue’s assistance, deLaurentis established herself as a regular presence on the local club circuit throughout the 1990s. In 2001 she captured the live EP By George! Live at the Tin Angel for the Delayed Reaction label.
Albums