Amy Wadge

Originally from Bristol, England, Amy Wadge earned a Grammy for her songwriting partnerships with performers including Ed Sheeran, James Blunt, and Kylie Minogue. Born in 1975, she discovered music early through her father’s record collection, absorbing the styles of Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, and Elton John before beginning to compose her own pieces after taking up piano at age nine. By eleven she had added guitar, learning directly from Tracy Chapman’s self-titled debut album, an experience that also shaped her emerging approach to songcraft and established the instrument as her main vehicle. While still at school she started presenting her original songs at Bristol-area venues. After moving to Wales she completed studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, then built a following through local performances while issuing her own recordings. Across the 2000s and 2010s she produced numerous EPs and albums. She captured the Welsh Music Awards’ Best Female Solo Artist prize in both 2002 and 2003; the latter year also found her touring Australia with the Welsh rugby squad and singing “Adre Nôl” at the World Cup. Among her notable credits is the 2010 EP Songs I Wrote with Amy by Ed Sheeran. In 2011 she joined Liverpudlian artist Pete Riley for the album Rivers Apart. Further recognition arrived in 2016 with an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of South Wales and the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award. Commissioned in 2017 to score the Welsh thriller Keeping Faith (original title: Un Bore Mercher), she wrote six original tracks that appeared on the early-2018 EP Keeping Faith, followed by the second-season soundtrack in 2019.