Irish singer-songwriter, Amy Montgomery is gearing up for her debut visit to Australia with an east-coast tour accompanying William Crighton & The Family Band that includes an appearance at Dashville Skyline (Hunter Valley).
Amy and her band have seen a rapid rise to stardom in the UK, going from small gigs in her home town of Belfast, to playing to an audience of 7,000 at Glastonbury. Now they're on their way to Australia to give local crowds a taste of their sonic exploration.
“The past few years have been spent gigging and getting familiar with our sound, and making other people familiar with our sound. It's been this crazy journey of going from playing in the corner of a dive bar to playing Glastonbury festival, which is one of the biggest festivals in the world,” Amy says.
“I'm trying not to think about it too much, I'm just letting the magic of the universe guide me.”
Crighton and Montgomery were first introduced to one another by chance at Black Deer Festival in Kent, England. “I don't even know if he was actually there at the gig,” Amy says.
“Something I do know is someone told him how good our gig was. From there he sent me a message on social media bringing up the idea of coming over to Aus [sic] to play a show, or for him to support me on one of our Irish shows.”
Regardless of the circumstances, she is excited to come to Australia for the first time. “I am more than excited, more than I will ever let on. Actually, Australia's always been a place, aside from performing and playing music. . . I'm a real traveller, I love travelling.
"Australia was always on the list of places to go. I never thought I'd be brought to Australia by my music rather than my desire to travel. I can't wait, I'm really excited.”
While the singer's voice is regularly compared to that of Janis Joplin, Montgomery insists she has a distinctive tone, worthy of recognition. “I'm always thankful to be compared to such an icon in music. But something I always have to mention is that I am Amy Montgomery and I'm an individual artist and I'm unique in myself, I never want people to forget that.”
Although she doesn't shy away from expressing her frustrations with the comparison, she does offer an alternative explanation for her distinctive sound.
“If Alanis Morissette and Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails were to have a baby and then send the baby to be babysat by Joni Mitchell for half the week and the other half of the week be babysat by Janis Joplin, you would come close, I think, pretty close to Amy Montgomery.”
Part of the tour will see Amy and her band accompanying Crighton to Dashville Skyline, and while she's not sure her sound will be a perfect fit, she's still keen to get stuck into it.
“It'll be interesting because our band and my music is, I wouldn't classify it as country, some elements of it are blues, but it's quite alternative. But it's always nice to be the standout in among the blues and country folk. I'm really excited to visit the Hunter Valley and come to Dashville.”
Written by Robert Carswell
Amy Montgomery and William Crighton & The Family Band 2019 Tour Dates
Wed 2 Oct - Howler (Melbourne)Thu 3 Oct - The Zoo (Brisbane)
Sat 5 Oct - Dashville Skyline (Hunter Valley)
Sun 6 Oct - The Vanguard (Sydney)
