Amy Rigby

THE BEAUTY AND GREAT..

"It really is quite simple no one of any gender or generation has written as many good songs in Rigby's realistic postfolk mode since she launched 'Diary of a Mod Housewife' in 1996." Robert Christgau, Village Voice

Born in Pittsburgh and a long-time resident of New York City, Amy played drums in short-lived no wave group Stare Kits before picking up guitar, pen & cassette player to become songwriter, singer and rhythm guitarist for cowpunk pioneers Last Roundup. They released one album Twister (1987) on the Rounder label. She became a mother soon after, and started oddball female folk pop trio The Shams, recording a single for Bob Moulds SOL label. An album Quilt, produced by Lenny Kaye, and an EP Sedusia came out on Matador before Amys first solo album Diary Of A Mod Housewife (1996) got the attention of critics and music fans. Produced by Cars guitarist Elliot Easton, it combined real life lyrics and transcendent melodies with a passionate music fan's collection of pop, rock and country influences.

Her other solo albums "Middlescence" (1998), "The Sugar Tree" (2000), "Til The Wheels Fall Off" (2003), "Little Fugitive" (2005) and the anthology "18 Again" (2001) all received outstanding reviews. Amy has been interviewed by Terry Gross on NPRs Fresh Air and featured on All Things Considered, CNN and MSNBC. She's appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Bumbershoot, Lilith Fair, Mountain Stage, Whad'Ya Know?, Woodsongs, PBS's Speaking Freely and World Cafe. From 2000 to 2004, she was a songwriter for Welk Music in Nashville. She has been a panelist and performer at CMJ, Southern Festival of Books, South by Southwest, Folk Alliance and Rockrgrl conferences. Her songs have been covered by Laura Cantrell, Jonell Mosser, Ronnie Spector and They Might Be Giants John Flansburgh, and featured in films (including Kelly Reichardt's River of Grass and the unforgettable Animal Behavior) and TV (The Real World, Tuesday Night Book Club - "Worst show in the history of television." IMDB).

Amy has toured the US, UK and Europe. In 2005 she and singer Marti Jones created a show, Cynical Girls, and performed it all over the US with special guest, legendary Stiff artist Wreckless Eric. Amy and Eric have been playing together since then, releasing an album, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, on the Stiff label in 2008. They toured America, the UK and Europe and put out a double A-side 45 ("Teflon Wok/Bobblehead Doll") in 2009 and a covers album, "Two-Way Family Favourites" on their own Southern Domestic Recordings label (2010). Eric & Amy have just released their third album "A Working Museum" on Southern Domestic and continue to tour all over the place and occasionally host concerts in their own living room. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.