Amelia Curran is a Canadian singer-songwriter from

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

. The ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' describes her music as "a bit like

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

being channeled in a dusty saloon by

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Early life

Curran was born in St. John's. She started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager and eventually dropped out of university to busk on the streets of St. John's.

Career

2000 – 2006

Curran released her first album in 2000, and since then she has released seven more. Curran's lyrics have been described as "evocative" by Spinner Canada who, referring to Curran's song "The Mistress", wrote "like the best poets, Curran packs so much meaning into each line that the listener barely has time to register each clever lyric before the next zinger comes along." On her 2001 release, ''Trip Down Little Road'', Curran performed as a member of the group The SenseAmelia Project, a seven-piece group, which included trumpeter Caleb Hamilton. The SenseAmelia Project was nominated for a 2003

East Coast Music Association The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...

Award in the category Rock Recording of the Year. Her 2006 release, ''War Brides'', was initially released independently and was later given a European and Canadian release by

Six Shooter Records Six Shooter Records is an independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that uses an artist-centric business model, focusing on art before commerce combined with extensive touring. Six Shooter Records was founded in 2000 by Shauna d ...

. ''War Brides'' was nominated for two East Coast Music Association Awards, in the categories Folk Recording of the Year and Female Solo Recording of the Year. A song written by Curran ("The Union") was recorded by Nova Scotia-based folk-roots group Heavy Meadows, and released on their 2004 eponymous release.

2009–present

In 2009, Curran released ''Hunter, Hunter''. She describes this album as "a little tougher than ''War Brides'' but it's still minimal". She explains that the title is "''Hunter Hunter'' as opposed to hunter-gatherer." This is the first album that she recorded in her hometown of St. John's. ''Hunter Hunter'' earned Curran nominations for four 2010 East Coast Music Association Awards, in the categories Female Solo Recording of the Year, FACTOR Recording of the Year, SOCAN Songwriter of the Year, and Folk Recording of the Year. On April 17, 2010, Curran won a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

in the category of Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo for ''Hunter Hunter''. In that same year Curran also won first prize (Folk category) of the 15th Annual USA Songwriting Competition, and was named solo artist of the year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Curran's album, ''They Promised You Mercy'', was released on November 8, 2014. Curran garnered nominations for four 2016 East Coast Music Association Awards for the album, and won in the category Songwriter of the Year. In 2017, Curran released her eighth full-length album, ''Watershed''. The album featured performances by guitarists Dean Drouillard, bassist Devon Henderson, and drummer Joshua Van Tassel (of the group

Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian folk rock band from Wainfleet, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto. The current touring line-up includes Tony Dekker on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Erik Arnesen on banjo, electric guitar and ...

). Curran was nominated for the 2018 JUNO Awards in the categories Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year (for songs "Come Back for Me", "Watershed", and "Try"), and 2018 East Coast Music Association Awards in the categories Album of the Year, Solo Recording of the Year, and Folk Recording of the Year. In addition to being a musician, Curran is also a playwright and actor, and has had her plays performed in fringe festivals.

Advocacy

Curran is an outspoken advocate for improvements in mental healthcare services, including the coordination of government and community based efforts. She has acknowledged that she has dealt with anxiety and depression herself. In 2014, shortly before the release of ''They Promised You Mercy'', Curran performed music for a public service video advocating awareness and service improvements on mental-health issues, which also featured the participation of figures including actors

Allan Hawco Allan Hawco is a Canadian writer, actor, and producer from Bell Island, Newfoundland. He is best known for his roles in the series ''Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'', ''Republic of Doyle'', and '' The Book of Negroes'', and the television limited series ...

and

Krystin Pellerin Krystin Pellerin (born July 12, 1983) is a Canadian actress of theatre, television, and film. Early life Pellerin was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland. After attending high school at Prince of Wales Collegiate and attending Memorial ...

, author

Michael Crummey Michael Crummey (born November 18, 1965) is a Canadian poet and a writer of historical fiction. His writing often draws on the history and landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador. Early life and education Crummey was born in Buchans, Newfoundl ...

, and Newfoundland and Labrador MHA

Gerry Rogers Gerry Rogers (born 1956) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and politician. She was leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party from 2018 until 2019. She served in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as NDP MHA for ...

. In 2015, Curran was involved in starting a nonprofit organization aimed at raising awareness of mental health issues and seeking to improve education, support and services.

Discography

* ''Barricade'' (2000) * ''Trip Down Little Road'' (2001) * ''Lullabies for Barflies'' (2002) * ''War Brides'' (2006) * ''Hunter, Hunter'' (2009) * ''Spectators'' (2012) * ''They Promised You Mercy'' (2014) * ''Watershed'' (2017) * ''Live at Massey Hall'' (2019)

Notes

External links

Amelia Curran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Amelia Living people Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian women singer-songwriters Musicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Writers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo winners Six Shooter Records artists Canadian Folk Music Award winners Canadian folk-pop singers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian women singers