It’s been a rough and rewarding road for singer-pianist Amy Lee. As co-founder and frontwoman of Evanescence, a pop band that’s as comfortable with hard rock as with ballads, she’s seen a balance of ups and downs. The band made a huge first album, “Fallen”; won a couple of Grammys; and developed a large and loyal fan base. But Lee’s cofounder, Ben Moody, walked out on the band almost a decade ago, and the remaining original members eventually quit or were fired.
Yet Lee rocks on. She leads the current version of Evanescence. Calling from a tour stop in Atlanta, Lee spoke of life on the road, her early thoughts of a career in music, the responsibilities of heading up a band, and the origin of her name. “Pure Prairie League, ‘Amie,’ that’s my song,” she said, meaning that’s the song she’s named after. Lee comes from a musical family. She casually mentioned that her dad, John Lee, won “The Gong Show” in 1979 by singing “Desperado.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGzyXdqi8Tc) And that she’s loved music for as long as she can remember.
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Amy Lee knows that Evanescence fans hope for something shorter than a five-year wait for the group's next album. But she's not making promises either way.
"I only get into that (creative) mode when I'm home and finally separated from the chaos of public life," Lee, who's currently out with Evanescence headlining this summer's Carnival of Madness tour, tells Billboard.com. Lee does, however, have a batch of material that she worked on in the initial stages of the group's latest album, 2011's "Evanescence," which was scrapped when she changed producers (from Steve Lillywhite to Nick Raskulinecz) but may offer a starting point for what comes next. "I definitely have a lot of songs and ideas and things we haven't shared yet, and I still believe in them," Lee says. "Whenever we have a song or an idea or anything, whether it's Evanescence or whether it's not Evanescence...it can be anything, I just hope that if it's good I have an opportunity to share it with everybody. So we'll see; you may still get your chance to hear all this stuff." Meanwhile, Evanescence is enjoying its Carnival of Madness run. It's something of a victory lap for "Evanescence," the long-awaited follow-up to 2006's "The Open Door," and Lee says the album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last October, is "a really positive thing in my life. This has been a lot of going out there and seeing new things and being able to have some new inspiration. So the writing will come. I'm not worried about that." Amy Lee’s Evanescence headlines Carnival of Madness Tour,
which makes Atlantic City stop Aug. 3 & 4.
Summer jaunts appeal to Evanescence vocalist-pianist Amy Lee. “We’re really looking forward to the Carnival of Madness tour this summer,” Lee says. “We love Chevelle and haven’t hit the road together in years. I’m really stoked to finally be playing some shows with Halestorm.” Chevelle, which performed in Atlantic City earlier this year, is in the midst of a new period of success. The band’s current single, “Hats Off To The Bull,’ was at No. 6 last week on the Billboard rock music chart. Meanwhile, the band’s Carnival of Madness tour mates, Halestorm, is at No. 16 on the rock music chart with the song “Love Bites.” And then there is Evanescence. The band’s latest, self-titled (and fifth overall) disc hit the top of the Billboard pop album chart upon its release last October. “We’ve done well for ourselves,” Lee tells Atlantic City Weekly. “It’s been great.” Cavo and New Medicine Show are also part of the bill, which will stop Friday, Aug. 3, at the House of Blues at Showboat in Atlantic City with an encore performance on Saturday, Aug. 4. Grammy Award winning rock band Evanescence first invaded our eardrums with their infectious single ‘Bring Me to Life’ featuring Paul McCoy of 12 Stones. The tune is off of their 2003 debut studio album ‘Fallen’ which went double platinum and topped charts internationally. The song was significant in that it marked a major breakthrough for a female-fronted band at a time when rock music was dominated by male artists. Source: loudwire.com LEGACY RECORDINGS SET TO RELEASE WE WALK THE LINE: A CELEBRATION OF THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH, A DELUXE CD/DVD SET CAPTURING THE ALL-STAR 80TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT SPECTACULAR
Coming Tuesday, August 7 Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release We Walk The The Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash in a deluxe CD/DVD set and Blu-ray disc on Tuesday, August 7. We Walk The Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash was lensed and recorded on Friday, April 20, 2012 at The Moody Theater in Austin, Texas when an all-star roster of legendary musicians paid tribute to Johnny Cash--his music, his roots, his influence, his heritage--in an unforgettable concert experience. With Grammy-winning producer Don Was serving as musical director, We Walk The Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash showcased a wide spectrum of sound including Outlaw country pioneers (Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson), contemporary icons (Ronnie Dunn, Evanescence's Amy Lee) and Grammy Award winners (Pat Monahan of Train and The Carolina Chocolate Drops). DVD/Blu-ray
CD (same artists/performances as DVD, different order)
www.legacyrecordings.com www.johnnycashonline.com EVANESCENCE
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY So far, Evanescence released "only" three albums, but very successful ones... always in the top 5 of the US, UK and German music charts. And so we took the opportunity to do an interview with Amy Lee during their extended tour. entertaim.net: You have recorded three albums with Evanescence in a long time period compared to today's standards, because there were several years in between each. On the other hand, the records were very successful. Is that the key of your success? Amy Lee: (laughs) Well, it takes as much time as needed. I don't like to push myself, and after an exhausting tour you need to take time off to get new and good ideas. It comes down to quality, not quantity. The fans see it the same way. entertaim.net: You haven't been on stage for almost 4 years. How was it like when you played the first gig with a new album out? Amy Lee: I was very nervous. How will the fans react to the new songs? How many fans will come after all? That drove me crazy for some time, but since our first shows were great, the nervousness was gone and I felt like I had never taken a break. It's indeed a very nice feeling to be on stage when the fans are enthusiastic. (...)
At 9.35pm last night Dubai witnessed a new chapter in the UAE’s music history. Evanescence and the fireball of energy with the astounding voice – Amy Lee – leapt onto the stage and kept everyone in rapture for one hour and 30 minutes. From the second the opening bars of What You Want played to the last note of the very last encore song she never stopped moving, jumping, and never put a note wrong. Although the show was undoubtedly the Amy-Lee show, the drummer Will Hunt played an incredible set, the drumstick-twirling maestro added that extra pizzazz to the band and he was a joy to watch. Hunt was also the friendliest member of the band and stopped to give us feedback on EYE, which was much appreciated! The second song the band played, Going Under got the crowd singing along and there was a noticeable change in energy, from the kind of ‘oh look the band is here’ excitement to ‘FUCK YEAH the band is on stage and we know this song’ – kind of energy with everyone surging forward and screaming at the top of their lungs. For the fourth song in their set Amy Lee brought out her piano. This song was the first real showcase of her voice and another clear crowd favourite. The total highlight of the night for me was Evanescence’s new song The Change. If you thought Amy Lee’s voice was good before – you have to hear this song. It has far more vocal range and variation than any of the older songs – which after a while can sound the same. I love the energy and passion in this song and listening to the vocal gymnastics is like sliding down a rainbow into a forest pool. You have to listen to it to understand that last sentence I think! At this stage one of our friends texted us and said ‘I wish I could sing like that!’ – yeah us too. Recent attempts at singing in the shower have caused the cats to cower in fright. The last song before the encore was another crowd pleaser ‘Bring me to Life’, kicked off by half a dozen stage fireworks going off. We were half expecting the lighters to come out for this one, but the high-octane performance kept everyone jumping, screaming and headbanging. The song ended, the stage went dark and I was left going ‘But they did not play My Immortal?” (insert sad face here). Amy Lee had said in the press conference that they were going to play it. Three minutes later she bounded back on stage with the same energy she hit the stage with in the very first second, sat at her piano and played what must be the band’s best known track – I was appeased – the lighters came out, the crowd filled their lungs and all that could be heard were the strains of My Immortal being sung by a couple of thousand people. Perfect. (...) Read more (including Will Hunt's feedback on Evanescence's supporting act EYE) on MetalityUAE.com Evanescence fans in Dubai are anxiously awaiting for the gothic-rock band’s concert to begin tonight at 9 pm local time.
Al Arabiya caught up with award-winning lead singer Amy Lee earlier in the day and asked her about how she feels to be performing for the first time in the United Arab Emirates. “It's really special to us when we get to go somewhere we've never been before because it's like that first time experience for us to, um, there's definitely a little bit of extra magic with the fans when, you know, there's that anticipation, some of them waiting, you know, to see us, that I've never had before, you know, and have heard our music in the past decade so, um, it's a little bit of - a lot of it - a thrill for us. Makes it exciting and fun and I definitely wanna reach as many people as possible,” Lee said. When asked if the band has received enthusiasm from fans in Dubai, the raven-haired singer appeared to be as excited as her fans are. “Yeah! Oh yeah! I've seen them, definitely blow me up a lot on Twitter and Facebook the past couple of weeks leading up to this - I think they're excited!” Supported by local band EYE, Evanescence are performing live tonight Friday June 22nd at the World Trade Center’s Sheikh Rashid Hall. The band, formed in 1995 by Lee along with former guitarist Ben Moody, shot to fame in 2003 with their single “Bring Me to Life”, which saw them nab two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best New Hard Rock Performance, among other accolades. Evanescence have released three albums to date, the latest being self-titled which was released October last year. Source: alarabiya.net The Evanescence founder on taking her time, rumors of a solo record and crowd-pleasing golden nuggets
It’s hard to believe that Evanescence founder Amy Lee still gets nervous before a show. But opening for rock legends can do it: “We’re actually in Lisbon to play Rock in Rio,” Lee says, over the phone. “It’s going to be a big one tonight, we’re opening for Metallica. Just a little bit of pressure.” That, and new audiences – something Evanescence will experience this month when they play in Dubai and Beirut. “Those are the ones that I get the most nervous and excited for, because I know a lot of people are getting to see us for the first time. And I really want it to be us at our best.” There’s been quite a gap between Evanescence albums. Why is that? I’ve always been a believer in quality not quantity. I just feel like it’s not worth putting something out if it’s not great. Some people can knock out five songs a day, but I’m not that person. I’ll spend weeks laboring over the lyrics of a song. I just wait until I need to write. When I get creative, that means it’s time to put out a record. Not, “OK, we just did really well and people still know who we are. Let’s put out another record.” I was just thinking about this recently because Garbage is coming back. And I was thinking, “It’s been seven years since their last album, I can’t believe everybody’s giving me so much shit.” |
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