Aimee Mann and Sheryl Crow's little sister meets Radiohead in the back alley of a U2 and Beatles fan convention.

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ROCK: Modern Rock, POP: Delicate



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Ask a musician to describe what they do and you might hear singer/songwriter, guitarist, bassist, pianist, drummer, or producer/engineer. What if all these titles were used to describe the same person? Youâd be talking about Amy Stolzenbach. Few artists have had the talent, drive and vision to pull it off. But you can add Amyâs name to the list.

After contributing to some of the Northwestâs favorite artistsâ albums and live shows as a writer and musician (Carrie Akre, Kim Virant, Glorious), being Angus Young (after founding the all-female AC/DC tribute band Hellâs Belles) and winning over every person who sees her play live with her drive and passion, whatâs left? A solo career.

The first full-length album, On and On, is DYI in its truest sense. Recorded in 2006 in her basement studio, Amy explores the area between the depths of despair and the silver lining with melodic memorable moments captured and shared. This award nominated guitarist shows us the depth of her talent by being her own backing band in the studio. A complement to a song that carries equal weight stripped down to just voice and acoustic guitar as sheâs known to do at intimate shows around the Northwest. Vulnerable and tough. Wise and flawed. Remember, there is so much moreâ¦â¦



Trained on piano from a young age and initially self-taught on guitar, Amy Stolzenbach lives and breathes music. At twenty, the Midwest didnât seem to hold many opportunities. After playing in bands in high school, one year as a music major in college and playing in a regional Top-40 band at nineteen, Amyâs gaze turned west to Los Angeles. A year later, she graduated from Musicianâs Institute, one of five women in her class, and started to plug into the music scene in L.A. She quickly realized that there were more tight knit exciting music communities elsewhere so she packed her bags and headed to Seattle. The music scene was vibrant and everything she had hoped for. With lots of opportunities to play, she hooked up with Seattle music veterans, Charlotteâs Webb. When that band had run its course, Amy honed her songwriting skills with her band flood, a melodic blend of psychedelia and guitar-heavy pop. The EP, Satan Touched My Hat, produced by Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan, The Presidents) and released on her own label, garnered critical acclaim. Several incarnations of flood led to the formation of Ground Bloom Flowâr which built on the heavy sound of flood but added influences from Massive Attack and William Orbit by using drum loops and dreamy synths.

Seattle musicians had taken note of Amyâs songwriting and arranging skills. This led to collaboration with Kim Virant and eventually a stint in her band on guitar and keyboards. The John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Harvey Danger) produced Stealing Days would not be Amy and Kimâs last collaboration. 2001âs EP, 4 More with Pete Droge (The Thorns, Almost Famous) and Elaine Summers producing and co-writing respectively, cemented Amyâs reputation as a skilled studio musician.

She left Kimâs live band in late 1999 to devote all her attention to her new project, the all-female AC/DC tribute band, Hellâs Belles. Amy had always loved AC/DC and had the concept for an all-female version of the Aussie band with herself as the explosive, eternal school-boy(girl) lead guitarist, Angus Young, nearly a year before all of the pieces fell into place. What started in her mind as a fun side project exploded onto the Seattle club scene and quickly spread all over the western states and Canada. Hellâs Belles has racked up numerous awards and accomplishments, including meeting AC/DC and inspiring a near deluge of female tribute acts around the country to follow in the footsteps of Amyâs idea by paying homage to their favorite band.

The constant touring and demands of Hellâs Belles left little time to work on her craft so Amy left the band in early 2002 and was soon recruited by two Seattle acts and nearly by one infamous bad boy band, Limp Bizkit. Amy auditioned for the Fred Durst circus as it rolled through Seattle and the very next day, every media outlet from CNN to Rolling Stone caught wind of the daring female infiltration into a clearly misogynist imaged band, naming her as the favorite pick to replace their recently departed guitarist, Wes Borland. Amy has never been afraid to rattle the cage of the establishment and this audition proved that people will take notice.

Quickly joining forces with the beloved Seattle music icon, Carrie Akre (Hammerbox, Goodness), Amy co-wrote the opening track on Carrieâs 2002 release, Invitation, and continues to play in her live band. At the same time she performed with Sweet Lou, where she played keyboards exclusively.

In 2003, Pete Droge introduced Amy to San Francisco transplant, Geoff Stanfield (Geffen band Black Lab and critically acclaimed Sun Kil Moon) when he turned to Pete for advice for musicians to turn his studio project into a live band. The result was the band Glorious. After signing with Madacy imprint Toucan Cove, the band was an industry favorite and toured in support of their eponymous CD (co-produced by Dave Lebolt â David Bowie, Laurie Anderson and mixed by David Bianco â Teenage Fanclub, U2) in 2004.

Amy left Glorious in the spring of 2005 when the persistent call of her own music once again became the focus of her time and energy. Finding herself was the mission and by the fall of 2005, she began recording new songs she had written over the summer. It had always been a fantasy to record an album where she played all the instruments and since she had always messed around on drums and bass is a close cousin to guitar she hit the ground running. Once again her bold idea paid off. There is no impossible with Amy. February of 2006 saw the release of a three-song EP entitled This Fall where she performed all the instruments and vocals and served as producer and engineer. A full length CD is forthcoming. Currently she is performing regional solo acoustic shows and has a live band made up of Seattleâs best musicians to take her vision and music from the studio to the stage.

That same creative drive allowed Amy to add on to the three EP songs in 2006 in a non-stop parade of live performances and recording studio hibernation. All of her blood, sweat and tears were worth it and we'll hear the result in the February 2007 release of her full-length album, On and On through her label, Four and Four Records and Burnside Distribution.

A life in music is all Amy sees in her crystal ball â a device that when consulted in the past, has led her on some amazing adventures. She follows her heart and in turn, we all follow her.



Notable


1995 â Appeared in the movie Georgia with Jennifer Jason Leigh & John C. Reily

2000 â Played KISWâs Deck the Hall Ball at Seattleâs Paramount Theater with Hellâs Belles

2002 â Feature article in ROCKRGRL magazine

2002 â Appeared in KMTTâs Mountain Music Lounge with Carrie Akre â Live performance of the song
âInvitationâ released on KMTTâs On the Mountain 8

2003 â Played the first show ever at the White River Amphitheater with Carrie Akre opening for Heart

2003 â Helped establish Ann & Nancy Wilson Scholarship for Girls at Ground Zero Teen Center

2003-2006 â Hellâs Belles winner of Best Tribute/Cover Band in Seattle Weekly Music Awards

2004 â Played White River Amphitheater with Glorious opening for Alanis Morrissette

2004 â Played KEXPâs Audioasis with Glorious

2005 â Nominated for Best Guitarist in Seattle Weekly Music Awards

2006 â Performed to over 2000 people in July as one of five finalists in the Redhook Emerging Music Awards