Amy Jay ~ Alison Stiel ~ Stone Cold Grace

 

New York based indie alt-folk singer songwriter Amy Jay’s songs are like plastic knives — pliable, yet cutting. Throughout the 10 songs on her new album, Mnemonics, Jay proves she knows how to wield them tenaciously. She is a master of exploring what makes the vulnerable acceptable, alluding to the Joycean concept of what makes the universal specific. Throughout Mnemonics and across her oeuvre, she transforms sketches of folk songs into fully formed indie rock panoramas that alternatingly float, stun, and comfort. The architecture of her songwriting, varied in length, tone, and dynamic, stands out, but it’s Jay’s voice that’s the connecting tissue, whether performing with a full band or solo. Amy Jay’s Mnemonics is due out November 7 via Mother West.

 

Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter ALISON STIEL has always been fascinated by the concept of memory – why, after so many minutes lived, only a handful actually stay with us years later. As of December 2024, her ten track album “Memory” is out in the world and available to stream everywhere. The isolation of lockdown pushed Stiel to start writing her own music, and by the time the world reopened, she had become adept at capturing her most standout moments – ones that haunted her, ones that comforted her, ones that she lived in for probably too long. Drawing inspiration from the open tunings and intricate guitar patterns of Adrianne Lenker, as well as the anthemic lyrics and vocals of artists such as Mitski and Samia, Stiel’s songs are deeply personal yet deeply relatable.

 

STONE COLD GRACE is the pseudonym of indie folk singer/songwriter Sara Johnson. Compared to the likes of Joni Mitchell, Patti Griffin and Allegra Krieger, Johnson weaves stories of love, loss and becoming into delicately crafted songs. When Johnson isn’t making music for Stone Cold Grace, she fronts philly-based indie rock outfit Caring Less.