Santa Monica, California
Singer-Songwriter, Lyricist, Vocalist

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"Naked is our uniform. It's our simple hand-me-down."

BIOGRAPHY

When I was 13 years old, my dad was ‘called’ to be a missionary in Honduras. As a family, we weren’t ‘cut out’ for the mission field – I had no idea my world was about to be kicked over on its side. One moment I was busy doing homework and planning slumber parties, the next moment I suddenly found myself in a third world country recovering from a hurricane. I went into culture shock as the poverty, disease, and the idea that human life isn’t so precious in other parts of the world… slowly seeped in.

Most children grow up in ‘phases’ – I was given no time for that. I took on the mental weight of an adult the moment I stepped out of that tiny TACA airplane… and into the rest of my life. In fact, the only evidence that I even had a childhood exists in a black 32×17 Rubbermaid trunk. I bought the trunk to protect my books, CDs, and photo albums from the Honduran heat and humidity. Today, I keep the trunk in my closet. It contains stacks of letters from my 8th grade Sunday school class… wishing me well, wishing me luck. It contains letters I wrote to myself… promising myself I would get out alive. It contains the jewelry I wore the day I was kidnapped… the photographs that were taken minutes before it happened, photographs of a dear friend who gave his life so that I could live. It contains fragments of a life that I shut away until now…

When I began writing for this album, I opened the trunk for the first time in years. The overwhelming smell of dark mahogany, coffee, and burning sugarcane (the smell of Honduras) hit me like a wall, and I knew that all the memories I’d stifled were begging to be brought to life. I also knew that I was being presented with a choice: I could let these memories, and the experiences that they represent, cuff me, paralyze me, and make me bitter… or I could turn them into something beautiful… something that other people could relate to and, hopefully, find comfort in. This is my gift.

I’m calling my album “ONYX” for a number of personal reasons… one being that it’s a stone, a stone that helps to deflect negative energy and helps us to balance and control our emotions. I feel certain that we do not have control over what happens to us, but we DO have control over how it affects us. We can choose to be the victim of our circumstances, or we can choose to use our circumstances as fuel to rise above.

I can’t give a date for when ONYX will be released, but every day I’m getting closer. I thank you all for your patience, love and support.

LEVEL

professional

GENRES

Pop, Alternative Pop, Singer/Songwriter

PUBLISHING COMPANY

Amy Kuney Music, I own my own publishing

Contact

Management: Reese Lasher: lasher.reese@gmail.com
Publishing: Amy Kuney: amykuney@gmail.com
Label: n/a
Booking: booking@amykuney.com
Administrative: lasher.reese@gmail.com

P.R.O.

ASCAP

INSTRUMENTS

acoustic guitar / keyboard / piano / vocals

INFLUENCES

Fiona Apple, Keane, Muse, Jump Little Children, Nelly Furtado, Paul Oakenfold, Sia, Damien Rice, Lauryn Hill, Norah Jones, Dave Matthews, Lenny Kravitz, Moby, Sade, George Winston, U2, Dido, Lifehouse, Imogen Heap, Rufus Wainwright, Incubus, Jars of Clay, Jeff Buckley, and Janis Joplin

I AM INTERESTED IN

in co writing online
in co writing in person
in networking with songwriters
in pitching songs to artist
in pitching songs to tv

I WRITE:

For a living

I Also Write:
by myself
with others
for myself
for others

I Prefer To Write:
lyrics
melody
music

experience >

SONG PLACEMENTS

Gasoline Rainbows - SYTYCD Canada; Hope A Little Harder - One Tree Hill; Kleenex Commericals; The Real World: Washington DC; 2009 Macy's Holiday Commercials; Bird's Eye View - Keeping Up With the Kardashians; 2008 Macy's Holiday Commercials; All Downhill From Here - One Tree Hill; Relationship-wrecked - Gilmore Girls; How the Wind Must Feel - Passions; So Help Me God - Passions; In the Dark - Passions

OTHER SONG OR ALBUM CREDITS

Gasoline Rainbows - Gasoline Rainbows benefit album; This Beautiful Ache - Ernie Halter; How Babies Get Born - Esthero; Bookmark - Jason Reeves; Hope A Little Harder - Jeremy Ruzumna; Cranberry Lake - Ari Hest; Hummingbird - Trey Lockerbie; All Downhill from Here - Tim Myers; U R who U R - Tim Myers

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