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Amy brings her show "The Cardinals: Songs, Stories & Poetry" for the first time to Wussow's with special guest Ash Burton Heralded by Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Billboard Magazine and NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” singer/songwriter Amy Speace is one of contemporary folk music’s leading voices and widely considered one of the best songwriters in Folk and Americana. A classically-trained actress, Amy was cutting her teeth in the NYC theater scene and playing songs in the folk clubs in the West Village when she was discovered by Judy Collins, who signed her to her Wildflower Records label in 2006, took her on the road as her opening act, and recorded her song “Weight of the World.” In 2009, Amy relocated to Nashville, TN, signing with Thirty Tigers Records and pivoted from a more edgy rock and roll backed sound (NPR compared her favorably to an ‘early Lucinda Williams’) to a more cinematic, voice-forward production. Working with Neilson Hubbard as producer and co-writer, Amy’s songs deepened and her voice soared in a way that had not previously been captured in recordings. Classically-trained, she used to hold back, “I didn't want to sound musical theater or classical, so I underplayed my voice in my first few records, let the band rock, let the songs groove.” She says that Neilson was the one who encouraged her to use her given voice and find the sound that fit that and build the production around her voice and the song itself. In the almost two decades since, they have made a handful of records, epic and intimate, some with strings, some pared down to just piano and vocal. “I learned to be an artist in New York. I learned to work hard and that I had to believe in myself before I could get anyone else’s attention. I learned about grit and gravity, I got my ass kicked and I just dug down harder and concentrated on being the best writer I could be,” she says. “I learned to write there, and to play guitar and lead a band, but it was Nashville that taught me to take chances and fly. I got a master class in songwriting with some of my earliest collaborators, Jon Vezner, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Neilson, Mary Gauthier. I think in Nashville, if you really dig into the scene, you can’t help but get better. You either gotta start writing better songs or you just, I don’t know, stop. I’m not one who stops. I’m a dog with a bone.” In Nashville, Amy found her voice as a writer and as a singer. She is a sought-out collaborator and teacher and has been hosting gatherings in her home for 14 years now, called The East Nashville Song Salon, welcoming newcomers to her adopted home. She was the 2020 winner of the AMA UK’s International Song of the Year for her song “Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne.” “The Blue Rock Session,” her 10th solo album, was released in December 2025 and reached #1 immediately on the Folk Radio Charts, as did her last three albums. “Blue Rock” is a truly solo acoustic project Amy recorded in 3 hours in Wimberley, TX during a writer’s retreat She has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and in a segment for “Marketplace.” Amy has played many festivals around the world, including Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Glastonbury Music Festival, legacy stages like The Grand Ole Opry and The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and is a favorite of “Mountain Stage Radio.”
A well-respected writer, her debut collection of poetry The Cardinals was published by Red Hen Press in September 2026. She’s had essays published in The New York Times, No Depression, Working Mother Magazine, Salon.com and leads workshops in songwriting and performance. Her book To The Perfomer: A Singer-Songwriter’s Handbook is a companion to her performance workshops. During Covid, she started teaching workshops on Zoom that she continues to this day. She had her son, Huckleberry at 50, and started a blog Menopausal Mommy, where she writes weekly on art, late motherhood and faith. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from The Naslun-Mann School of Creative Writing at Spalding University.
Amy Speace now calls East Nashville her home. She combines touring the US and the UK, with readings at bookstores, workshops and book festivals, speaking engagements and teaching. She gets endless inspiration from her son and her dog, Dusty Springfield, and the thriving creative community that she finally landed in.
**** - Mojo Magzine
***** - RnR Magazine
5/5 Stars - American Songwriter
Critical rave reviews from Rolling Stone Magazine, Billboard Magazine, New York Times (Jon Pareles), etc.
tickets: $18 online / $20 at the door. All ages!
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Event venue
Wussow's Concert Cafe, 324 Central Ave, Duluth, MN 55807-3721, United States
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.