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When I was 13 years old, my dad was ‘called’ to be a missionary in Honduras -I had no idea my world was about to be kicked over on its side. One moment I was busy doing homework and planning slumber parties, the next moment I was in a third world country recovering from a Hurricane. I went into culture shock as the poverty, disease, and the idea that human life isn’t so precious in other parts of the world…slowly seeped in.
Most children grow up in ‘phases’- I was given no time for that. The only evidence that I even had a childhood exists in a black 32X17 Rubbermaid trunk. I bought the trunk to protect my books, CDs and photo albums from the Honduran heat and humidity. Today, I keep the trunk in my closet. It contains stacks of letters from my 8th grade Sunday school class…wishing me well…wishing me luck. It contains letters I wrote to myself…promising myself I would get out alive. It contains the jewelry I wore the day I was kidnapped…the photographs that were taken minutes before it happened, photographs of a dear friend who gave his life so that I could live. It contains fragments of a life that I shut away until now…
When I began writing for my upcoming album, I opened the trunk for the first time in years. The overwhelming smell of dark Mahogany, coffee and burning sugarcane (the smell of Honduras) hit me like a wall, and I knew that all the memories I’d stifled were begging to be brought to life. I also knew I was being presented with a choice: I could let these memories, and the experiences that they represent, cuff me, paralyze me and make me bitter...or I could turn them into something beautiful…something that other people could relate to and, hopefully, find comfort in. This is my gift.
I can't give a date for when the album will be released, but every day I'm getting closer. I thank you all for your patience, love and support.
“Amy Kuney's "All Downhill From Here" has been listened to nearly 250,000 times on her Myspace page. Kuney, who is 25, is part of a new class of musicians who are bushwhacking their way to success. Kuney isn't necessarily trying to use the old formula of getting signed to a record label — which is becoming increasingly difficult as the business splinters. Instead she's using a variety of online tools — from social media to YouTube.
Eric Garland, the founder and CEO of Big Champagne, a company that tracks music online, says Kuney represents the new D.I.Y. dream for tens of thousands of musicians. "You do have artists, many artists, who set out to make a living as a small business — as an independent artist — and grow that business without necessarily having any intention or expectation that they will do business with a major music company," he says.”
Laura Sydell - NPR's The Record
“The title of the title track from this new album benefiting oil-spill-plagued Gulf of Mexico towns says it all.”
Jerry Shriver - USA Today
“Tulsa singer Amy Kuney was kidnapped by rebels when she was a teenage tourist in Guatemala, but she has seemingly recovered from that ordeal with few traces of tragedy or terror in her gentle piano-pop tunes. Her musical backing is quite mainstream, but there are hints of depth and soulfulness in power ballads like "Hope a Little Harder." She even reveals a social conscience in "Gasoline Rainbows," which shares lyrical imagery with Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger's recent "Rainbows in Gasoline" but is actually about last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Falling James - LA Weekly
“This new compilation is one of those efforts, and it features brand new songs by City And Colour, Damien Rice and Amy Kuney. All the proceeds will go to Global Green's relief work in the gulf.
Kuney's tune, which kicks off the collection, is particularly moving, and its lyrics encapsulate just how devastating the spill has been on the communities and environments throughout the gulf coast.”
Kate Harper - CHARTAttack
“I first came across Amy and her music three years ago. Watching and hearing her deepen from an artist I admired then has been amazing. Her songwriting, lyrical ability, and captivating live performances add up to a true artist on the cusp of big things. I am a fan.”
Joe Cuello, VP MTV Creative Music Integration - N/A
“I stumbled into an L.A. lounge she was playing at. She totally worked it! She's like Fiona Apple and Sarah McLachlan. An amazing lyricist.”
Kate Voegele - People Magazine
“...When Kuney hits the stage, she seizes it - with tenacity beyond her years and stature. She has a bold, nearly rough alto voice, and often sports a leather jacket that matches the rock-chicness of her heavy black bangs... She does not intimidate; she merely impresses.”
The Examiner
“Even within the album's mainstream style, Kuney flashes more wit and intelligence than most pop starlets of her generation.”
LA Weekly
“The showpiece of this collection is Amy Kuney's dusky alto, which offers self-assured pop songs that are too smart to ever get overblown”
Nate Cavalieri - Rhapsody
“Her voice is especially lovely…”
Ann Powers - Los Angeles Times
