Amelia Curran & The Mercy Band

Halifax's happening performer Amelia Curran is in her prime. With the release of 2006s "War Brides," Curran finds herself at the center of attention. She has been nominated for Female Solo Recording and Folk Recording at this year's East Coast Music Awards. Aside from the excitement of this geographic recognition, Curran is currently working with the In The Dead of Winter Festival, the second annual occasion scheduled for February 7-11.

Amelia Curran's recording career began with her move from Newfoundland to Halifax, and the subsequent production of “Barricade” in 2000. This record was well received by critics and the industry, as she was nominated for Female Artist of the Year at the 2001 ECMA's. This success spurred Curran on to release two more recordings within two years. Curran teamed up with a seven piece band and released "Trip Down Little Road," under the alias, The Sense Amelia Project. In 2003, accolades surrounded Curran and her new endeavor, as she received her second ECMA nomination for Rock Group of the Year. Following her 2003 release, Amelia set out on her own, this time with "Lullabies for Barflies," a vulnerable album full of memories of her bar scene upbringing. "Lullabies for Barflies" brought Curran her third ECMA nomination in 2004.

Curran has since remained an unsigned artist.

"I’ve never gone out and pitched my work to any major labels," says Curran. "So far it’s just been easier to get the job done myself."

In the same breath Curran clarifies that she has not made a political or social choice to remain unsigned.

"The time will come when I’ll need to dish out those responsibilities and work with a company," she says. "I don’t subscribe to the notion that the industry is out to get you, I feel it’s another language and sometimes difficult for artistic people to stay afloat in."

After such prolific production, she took a step back to carefully examine her work. Three years since the release of "Lullabies for Barflies," Curran recently unleashed "War Brides," an introspective and historically haunting album. "War Brides" brings Curran up to her fifth ECMA nomination for Female Artist and Folk Recording of the Year.

When asked about her success Curran is cautiously aloof, it seems that nominations are more about recognition rather than awards.

Curran is notorious for ignoring gender separation in the music industry. "I don’t like talking about gender politics in music because I don’t like to credit them with even existing – although they do."

Curran is not fazed by being recognized in a gender specific category.

"Being nominated for Female Artist of the Year at the ECMA’s is a bit shoulder-shrugging. I perused the categories and wondered where I fit in, and "female" seems kind of obvious. Why does the gender separation exist? Is it like the Olympics? Can men and women simply not compete in the same category because one would kick the other’s butt? I don’t know, some things are cheap. But in award shows everybody wants the pat on the back, and any way to dish them out is done. Maybe there will be a "Best Artist with Dyed Hair" category next year," she casually jokes.

"Maybe award shows are more for the media than the artists, the way some weddings are for the mother rather than for the bride."


Curran muses on about her growth over the past six years of musical nominations.
"I jumped into producing music very quickly, so my growing and learning as an artist happened sort of publicly, which is outrageously embarrassing, but there you go," she says. "My playing is better, and more importantly, my writing. That’s bound to happen I think."

Curran is keeping busy with the awards kafuffle, but she is taking a break from the pandemonium to dive into another aspect of the music industry, as she is helping to organize the In the Dead of Winter Festival with her musical comrades Tanya Davis, Don Brownrigg, and Heather Gibson. This frosty festival is just the ticket to drive away winter boredom.

Curran anticipates the event, "I'm going to be going crazy through the whole thing. I’ll be playing twice – once as part of a song circle, and once with The Mercy Band on Thursday, Feb. 8th."

It doesn’t look like there will be much rest in Curran’s future, "The Mercy Band will be putting a new album out this spring – "Academy", which we recorded last year. We’ll be touring all summer and hope to get out of the country in the fall."

When speaking of the verdict of her music, Curran comments, "People who take music in lyrically make their own judgments. The most important thing is if the song is any good or not. A crappy song isn’t going to make anybody think or feel anything." Curran concludes, "A final work of art is like the top of Everest, you have to look around and try and breathe deeply, pat yourself on the back, and go on looking for another Everest."

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I wrote this article orginally for the Gazette and then for Filly, and it was never published. I figured i'd post it up here.