Amy Correia  Smalltown Girl Makes Good by David Chiu

On a warm July evening, Amy Correia stepped onto the stage of the Bowery Ballroom with only her guitar (and later ukulele and mandolin) and a cellist. Certainly the crowd reception was very warm and enthusiastic, but by no means on the level of hysteria had Britney or Christina was on the same stage. That in mind, some people in the audience both on the floor level and balcony saw it as an opportunity to talk and clink their drinking glasses during the newcomer's performance. Such rudeness would have fazed (okay pissed off) a performer, but Correia took it in stride and then shot back with some jokes. Valiantly, the artist carried on. She was able to completely silence the crowd with a breathtaking version of La Vie En Rose popularized by Edith Piaf. The only noise heard after that song was of rousing applause.

That is what happened when the Girls Room tour hit New York City. It was a national show sponsored by Capitol Records showcasing their roster of young female singers/songwriters: the aforementioned Correia, Tara MacLean, Shannon McNally, and Kendall Payne. For Correia in particular, the New York date was a homecoming of sorts-she had lived on the Lower East Side for four years before moving to Los Angeles. If that short set she played was a hint of things to come, a more wider audience will be in store for something bigger from this musician.

Correia's background has the makings of an Horatio Alger story but it took a while for her to be where she is now. Correia is from the smalltown of Lakeville, Massachusetts. A desire to pursue the writing arts brought her to New York City, where she became an English major at Barnard College. When she was 19, she hurt her back and returned to Lakeville to recuperate. During that period, she wrote nine songs and taught herself to play guitar; she also performed in bars in Boston. She later went back to New York, finished her studies, and lived in Chinatown for four years. Performing at clubs such as Sin-e, CB's Gallery, and Fez hones her playing and singing skills. In 1997, Correia moved to Los Angeles (now her home), which was where Capitol Records signed her to a recording contract.

Having already released an EP called Transportation Songs, Correia is scheduled to release her full-length debut Carnival Love in September. An eclectic-sounding batch of recordings, Carnival Love draws from Correia's unique experiences in the last several years; her distinct voice and spare yet melodic free-form compositions ("The Bike," "Angels Collide," "Life is Beautiful," "Sun Comes Up," "Falling Out of Love") reflect her use of traditional instruments like the mandolin and ukulele and her English Lit background. The album overall reflects a New York City and confessional sensibility in the vein of Laura Nyro, Janis Ian, and Suzanne Vega.

Recently coming off of the Girls Room tour, Correia will be performing her songs on her own in the fall. From Los Angeles, the singer/songwriter spoke about her music, experiences, and artistic pursuits.

How was it like being a participant of the Girls' Room? Did you know any of the performers' music before the tour? What did you come away from that experience?

In a word, it was wonderful. I never been on tour before and I really never played outside of New York and Los Angeles. I got to see a lot of the country and I got to perform in front of a lot of people that never got to see me play. I got to know the girls on tour who were great. It really gave me a lot of energy.

And you also found time to write for the website?

I wished I had written more actually on tour, but you know, when you are having a great time, you don't want to stop and write about it. I'm interested in writing, so it was kind of my chance to become Barbara Walters (laughs)

From where you came from originally, New York City must have been a shock.

When I was 17, and I [attended] Barnard College, that was like the first shock. It took me a long time to get used to New York. I don't know if I can do it again. Once you get a taste of life that is more relaxed, you realize how much energy I talks to live and get things done in [New York City].

I gotta ask you this question: How did you come across living on Mott and Hester? I don't know that many non-Asians that live in Chinatown-in fact one of your songs is titled "Chinatown."

It was really wild [and] great. It was a very inspiring place to live, and it's kind of a tough place to live because there are so many people. It's intense. I lived there for four years at that address. When I go back to NY and I look down that street, I just go Wow! It's almost like going back in time.

How would you contrast New York City and Los Angeles in terms of being both conducive and nurturing to your creativity?

I don't feel that inspired in LA when I write. I have written some good stuff here but I don't feel prolific here for whatever reason. It's very slow paced. You can really get lulled into this catatonic state, where in New York you are constantly on your toes. I have written some songs that are on the record-I wrote "The Bike" and "Falling Out of Love."

At what point did you decided to you wanted to become a musician?

It came from everything. When I was in high school, I wanted to be an actor and I had written a play that had done really well and won an award. When I started college, I realized acting didn't feel right. And I was an English major and I was looking into that. I kind of stumbled on music when I hurt my back. It was always in my life but I never too it seriously. And when I went home, I wrote songs on a guitar that I had. I had so much fun-it was a very inspiring thing to do. It just kind of kept going from there.

Did reading English Lit and the works of authors like Flannery O'Connor and James Joyce affect your writing style?

Definitely. That's one of the biggest influences. Obviously I had a lot of musical influences but in terms of my sensibility as a writer and the kind of lyrics I write, I would definitely look at literature that I read and poetry too [as being] influential.

Who were you listening to growing up?

I listened to a lot of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. When I was young teenager, I listened to a lot of stuff that was coming out of England from the '60s and '70s. I was really into that. I loved more of the classic American original songwriters like Gershwin and Cole Porter. I listen to a lot of different stuff recently.

How would you describe your sound? It has an eclectic type of feel.

I would actually describe it as eclectic. These songs were written over such a long period of timeso it was really like all over the place in a way and that's who I am. Maybe the next record has more similarity. It must be tough to review this record in that way-it's hard to say what it is. I guess eclectic is a good word.

All of the songs really click like "Sun Comes Up," "Chinatown," "Daydream Car," "The Bike," and "Life Is Beautiful." I get the impression from the music and the lyrics that it reflects someone who's been from place to place and experiencing different things throughout her life.

It's sort of like writing your first novel because you put so much of your life into it over such a long period of time.

How did you get signed by Capitol?

I have been playing in New York for about five years. I met a guy named Christopher Thorne who at the time was on Capitol Records and on a band called Blind Mellon. He produced some of the record and the demos. I went to his place in Seattle and we recorded a bunch of stuff. We made a tape we really like and he gave it to a bunch of people. Eventually it got into Capitol's hands. They saw me play before they offered me a deal.

You went from performing in small downtown clubs to being a major label artist? Has it changed you in anyway?

I'm not totally amazed because it's been a long time. Sure on the outside it seems like this stuff has happened so quickly. To me, it's been hard getting the record done and it took several years. I do feel really luckyto have this opportunity to put this music out. I do think being on a major label might give people a chance to hear it. I hope that I get to keep doing it.

What do you hope to do in your musical career in the next couple of years?

I feel like this cautious optimism. I don't expect any real big success. I know I can write songs and record them, and if I can get the support of the label, that would be cool too.

I hope that I can continue to write and be inspired-to feel like I have something to contribute and feel good about it, make records, and play live. My favorite thing to do is performing. I just want it to lead to other adventures. Who knows what those could be?