Amy Correia

Tactile experiences played a prominent role in Los Angeles singer/songwriter Amy Correia's construction of a song. Sometimes, the imagery took her back to a childhood memory as was the case with the bearded lady winking at a tattooed man in her song "Carnival." Other times, a poem did the trick. "Daydream Car" came from poet Patrick Cavanaugh's The Hunger. A Louisiana nightclub experience helped to produce the mournful song "Blind River Boy." Correia, from Lakeville, MA, made waves with her 2000 debut CD, Carnival Love (Capitol), with its richly melodic mix of mournful tales and whimsical stories created from a childlike, imaginary dreamworld. Her background as a short story writer and lover of literature surely contributed to the emotional depth of her songs. She confessed a love for short stories by writers as diverse as James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and Flannery O'Connor, whose writings she explored as a student at Barnard College. Correia was a late bloomer as a songwriter. Not until she hit 20 in 1998 did she embark on it. She had always been an inward person. Her thoughts often turned to literature and writing short stories. But she never really had thought about putting together those interests with singing until a back injury sidelined her for about two months in 1998. She put her time to use by writing songs, then she went out on the club scene in New York City to test her songs at venues such as Cafe Sin-e, CBGB's Gallery, and the Fez. After first signing to Virgin Records in 1997, she moved to Los Angeles. She started working on a recording, but after several people who were working with her left the label, her project remained incomplete. Luckily, she was able to retain her master tapes and find a welcome sign from Perry Watts Russell, an A&R guy at...