An Afternoon with Amelia (Ford)

Amelia Ford. Facebook photo.

Catch her on Dec. 9, 12-3 pm, at Harbor Ridge Winery, 4690 Rainbow Ridge Road in Egg Harbor. Her performance is part of a holiday party that will offer wine and drink specials.

The creator of the Wisconsin Area Music Industry’s [WAMI] 2023 Album of the Year is coming to Egg Harbor. Amelia Ford is a Green Bay-based singer-songwriter, and her WAMI-winning debut record, Wide Wide Open, shares an intimate story about moving on through emotive folk-rock. 

We sat down with Ford to discuss that album, and what led up to it, before her Dec. 9 show at Harbor Ridge Winery. The conversation has been edited for clarity.

Sam Watson (SW): You play guitar, bass and piano, as well as sing – which came first? 

Amelia Ford (AF): Technically, I started playing piano first. I was in lessons for a while when I was eight or nine. Strangely, I didn’t really understand the lessons, but I was playing pretty well by ear. 

In a lot of ways, I feel that my first instrument was really guitar. That was the first one I thrived on, starting when I was 15 years old. 

SW: When did you start writing songs?

AF: I started sort of accidentally when I was about 11. I was writing poems and I started singing them. After a while, I realized that I was trying to write songs.

SW: What does your songwriting process look like now?

AF: Normally, I’ll be cleaning or showering or something, and I’ll think of a line. If I feel inspired by that line, I’ll jot it down on my phone. Then I’ll come back to it later and sit down at the computer and build a song around it. 

SW: Is music your full-time gig?

AF: Yes, it has been for three years now. Before that, I did all these little side jobs because I knew I wanted to be a full-time musician. I was a cleaner, I was a security guard, I worked at a church for a while. I tried to pick jobs that were conducive to some degree of simultaneous songwriting, and also getting gigs here and there. 

SW: What’s your favorite part about making music for a living? 

AF: The creation aspect of it. I love crafting what feels like a great song. 

SW: Do you have a least favorite part? 

AF: Self-promoting is really a drag. I know a lot of artists who feel that that’s the bane of the job. 

SW: Where do you usually play? 

AF: I’ve played all over the state for almost five years – Madison, Milwaukee, Door County. My favorite venues are the ones that really appreciate originals.

SW: Do you play mostly originals during shows? 

AF: It depends on the show and the venue. I think my most popular approach is a mix show, where I’ll play half originals, and then I’ll play some covers to keep up a connection with the audience. But I also do shows that are all covers, and more often, shows that are all originals. 

SW: Tell me about Wide Wide Open.

AF: It was three years in the making; I had a lot of vocal difficulties trying to lay down the tracks. So it was a long time coming. It’s a collection of songs that I had written probably six years ago now. It’s largely about parting ways with somebody who I loved very much, and what it was like to build a new life without them.

SW: What was it like reviving songs you had written years ago and making an album out of them?

AF: They revived pretty naturally. There’s such a big step from playing them acoustic at home alone in your bedroom to bringing them into the studio. Suddenly other instruments are coming in and it feels like it’s getting a rebirth right in front of you. 

SW: Are you working on anything new?

AF: I have a new single released Dec. 1 called Loyal. It’ll be out on all platforms – Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube. I’m also looking to record some more music in Nashville and start a new band.

I’m looking for some people who want to get more high-energy with me, because if you listen to some of my new singles, they’re more of a crunchy, driven sound, more pop-rock than the more storytelling style of my first album.