Amy Sheppard
Amy Sheppard
Over the course of her career as a musician Amy Sheppard has played a major role in establishing her family band, Sheppard, as a major force on the Australian scene. Alongside her siblings George & Emma the trio have built Sheppard into one the biggest international exports Australia have had in quite some time. However, not one to rest on her laurels Amy has now chosen to add even more to her slate by branching out as a solo artist.
Speaking to Pario recently Amy revealed that much like Nikki Brumen from Blood Command she somewhat lost her identity as an individual to the band. So now leading into this new solo endeavour Amy has been forced to rediscover who she is an artist.
"My whole adult life has been Sheppard & building this amazing career that we have managed to build up," explained Amy. "This solo project is actually forcing me to take a deep dive into discovering who I am as an individual, which I think is going to be a huge learning curve for me. But I am looking forward to going on the journey."
The decision to branch out away from her siblings was not a choice that Amy took lightly or quickly, "this is something that has been in the back of my mind to do for a really long time... I finally just ran out of excuses for why I wasn't doing it."
When Amy speaks about wanting to do this for a long time she means this was a dream even before Sheppard became the phenomenon that they now are. For her new solo project Amy is exploring her earliest music passion, country music.
"I'm a huge fan of country music," Amy told Pario. "We grew up listening to a lot of country music. In fact, I was hearing that music when I was learning how to song write so I've always had a lot of country influences."
Given her deep seeded love for country music Amy attended the CMC Rocks music festival in 2019, which ultimately became the catalyst for her to finally explore this style of music herself.
"Seeing what the artists at CMC Rocks were doing & achieving gave me the kick to get this project going. I was so inspired by the performances & the sound I was witnessing at that festival, but I also knew I had the potential in me to do something similar. I just needed to stop making excuses."
Since making the decision to branch out on her own Amy said she has been warmly welcomed by the country music community. In particular Amy has been very fortunate to receive support & advice from 2 of Australia's biggest country artists, Kasey Chambers & Lee Kernaghan.
"Kasey was the first person to say 'this is great' & 'you really need to pursue this', which I was really appreciative for... Lee Kernaghan has also been super supportive of Sheppard. It's not just Lee though, the whole country music industry has been really welcoming & after performing at the Tamworth Country Music Festival solo I immediately felt like I was in the right place."
In terms of what fans can expect from Amy as a solo artist she told Pario she has been inspired by the likes of "Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Mulgrave & Taylor Swift" because like them she is "coming from the pop world & I really love the way that those artists have managed to incorporate pop & country."
Looking ahead Amy believes the hardest thing for her now is going to managing her time to support both creative projects, "I am going to be exhausted but it will be worth it because hard work pays off."
Keep up with Amy on social media at: @AmySheppardPie
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