October 28th 1999 Featured Artist

Featured Artist
What’s Up With Musicians & Performers

Amy Carr Pict Amy Carr
www.cedar-relic.com

by Ian Bonner

Less than ten years ago, Amy Carr didn’t have a musical career on her mind. She hadn’t even written a song yet or picked up an instrument. That didn’t happen until she and her twin sister Lisa took a three-month trip to Europe seven years ago and experienced some very “life-altering” things while on the trip. “We were mugged a couple of times — even etherized,” commented Carr. “We were on a train in France and woke up with a headache in Spain.” “But [it was] a great, great sleep,” she added.

Carr commented that she went backpacking a lot while in Europe and got a lot of blisters on her feet, and to take her mind off the blisters, she began to write. Upon returning to the states, she decided to get a guitar and taught herself how to play. “I didn’t know I could play a guitar until I got one.” According to Amy, her voice was “just there,” but she did work on it a lot. Carr’s debut CD, I Divide (1995), has been “virtually sold out.” This album is a tour de force reminiscent of an artist who has been recording for years, even decades. The solid style of passionate and melodic music is by no means for the passive listener.

Her most recent CD, from 1997, is entitled Blink, which is attributed to the idea of “fleeting moments” in life. The title track of Blink describes such deep longing: “I blink and you’re gone … how will I find the strength to carry on?” Carr is going beyond merely having sweet music for the ears. She is opening up her heart and mind for all to explore.

Her forthcoming CD, yet untitled, is on Amy’s mind. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I take a lot of time.” Carr says her winter plans include finishing the new CD and going out to promote it on the road in the spring and summer. She feels the spring and summer are more conducive to touring.

Some of the twins’ musical influences include Rush, The Who, Alanis Morrisette (also a twin), and Sarah McLaughlin. One of the covers they do in their show is “Raspberry Beret” by Prince — another artist who is one of their primary influences.

Carr has kept some pretty good company in the past couple of years on the road, sharing the bill with such artists as Tommy Conwell, The Drifters, and even John Entwistle from The Who. She has also been featured on WXPN’s infamous World Café as well as the station’s “Pick of the Day” and Women’s Music Hour. She has also received airplay and requests on Y-100 and WMMR in Philadelphia and numerous other radio stations around the country.

The Carr sisters would not reveal their exact age, but they are “somewhere in their twenties.” The twins are four minutes part, with Amy being the older one. “She [Lisa] tried to kill me in the womb,” said Amy. According to the twins, this “struggle” is a little known fact of life. “It’s survival of the fittest,” according to the sisters. At the same time, the sisters say that they have never had any rivalry outside of the womb. There has never been any “cat fights” either. “We’re a team,” says Amy. While Amy spends most of her time on stage, Lisa works behind the scene with management as well as back up in the recording studio.

The Carr twins both attended Kutztown University for fine arts (painting), with Lisa completing graduate school at Clairmont University in Los Angeles. Although Amy was also accepted to the same school, she decided to study music at Tyler. “It’s pretty much the same thing though … it’s painting with words and noise.”

According to the twins, there are no plans for marriage just yet, so they will just continue to break hearts. Keep an eye out for this best kept secret from Philadelphia. Check for their gigs and their forthcoming CD on their website: www.cedar-relic.com.

Capsule review of Amy Carr show at Brownies 23 East, 10/19/99

It seemed as if Amy Carr’s eleven-song, 45-minute set was just a warm-up. Her vocals can easily match the best of them, which includes the likes of Melissa Etheridge, Janis Joplin, and whoever else translates such overt, sincere emotion into singing and performing. You must see her and hear her to believe it.

A regular at this club on East Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore, PA, Carr performed several of her favorites, including the stylish “Blink,” “Ink,” “Mistaken Identity,” “A to Z,” — from their forthcoming LP — and a stunning rendition of “Love Will Keep Us Together” from, yes, the Captain and Tennille. Her powerful vocals are complemented by her own acoustic guitar, along with her band, Jeff Miller on percussion, Brian Wismer on bass and Tony Winkler on electric guitar. They all played a very balanced, tight set, and by no means was it overwhelming, gratuitous or pretentious for the audience, which is very refreshing in this age of “fad music.”