Amelia Curran

Amelia Curran works as a songwriter, vocalist, writer, and activist, shaping songs that pair lively tunes with thoughtful, intentional words exploring both intimate and wide-ranging subjects. Born during 1979 in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, she developed an intense fascination with music while still a teenager. After repeated attempts to adapt her brother's left-handed guitar for right-handed use, she received her own instrument as a Christmas present at age 16. Once she achieved fluency on the guitar she began composing songs, then left college to commit fully to music, performing on the streets whenever paid work proved unavailable.

She assembled the SenseAmelia Project, which issued the independent album Trip Down Little Road in 2001. Although the band enjoyed success across the Canadian Maritimes and the record found regional acceptance, Curran also chose to chase her solo ambitions, self-releasing Barricade in 2001 and Lullabies for Barflies in 2002. By 2006 she had dissolved the group and recorded the solo album War Brides, which earned favorable notices and two East Coast Music Award nominations for Folk Recording of the Year and Female Solo Recording of the Year. The reception of War Brides led Sandbar Music to issue a digital re-release of Lullabies for Barflies, and in 2009 she signed with the independent Six Shooter label to deliver Hunter, Hunter, a title she noted was a play on the phrase "Hunter, Gatherer." Hunter, Hunter brought further East Coast Music Awards nominations as well as a Juno Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year.

Whereas War Brides and Hunter, Hunter relied on minimal accompaniment from just two supporting musicians, 2012's Spectators broadened her approach with a larger and more varied group of players and a more refined production sound. They Promised You Mercy appeared in 2014 and reflected her experiments with rock-based arrangements. As the album came out, Curran disclosed her battles with depression and anxiety, later becoming a public advocate for reforms in the Canadian mental health system and co-founding the nonprofit It's Mental to heighten awareness of mental health issues while supplying education, services, and support. Her activist commitments shaped the 2017 album Watershed, which contained several songs confronting sexism in the music industry and within Canadian culture. Outside her recording work, Curran has also created several experimental theater pieces staged at fringe culture festivals.