Amy Lavere

Amy LaVere came up in Memphis, where she sang in church choirs as a kid. That early exposure to gospel and blues stuck with her, and you can hear it in the way she delivers a song. Her first album came out in 2005, and it set the tone for what she does: a mix of folk, soul, and Americana that feels lived-in rather than polished.

Her songs tend to work with personal material, often about love and loss. Tracks like "Killing Him" and "Often Happens" have a direct, unvarnished quality to them. She released an album called "Stranger Me" in 2016, which leaned into more introspective territory. There's a certain rawness to her writing that connects without needing to dress things up.