Amy England from Nantucket to Nashville
BY MARLI GUZZETTA
It's a story that reads like a ballad - a single mom working hard on a little island off the east coast packs a bag and kisses her daughter good-bye for three weeks to cut an album in Nashville.

It's also the story of Nantucket musician Amy Hunt England, who works as a graphic designer for the Maria Mitchell Association.

Last month, England went to Nashville to work with producer Bil VornDick, who once sat in the studio and coached a 17 year-old by the name of Alison Krauss on her sophomore album.

In a career that has spanned three decades, VornDick has worked with dozens of notable musicians, including James Taylor and Bob Dylan. He has also worked on the majority of Bela Fleck's albums and has been a driving force behind Rhonda Vincent's career.

After recording and releasing her first album, "Heart like Mine," England first met VornDick last year at the Austin Folk Alliance. He was panelist offering critiques on demo songs from participating musicians, including England. He liked what he heard in England's soft Americana style and invited her to cut a CD at his brand new Nashville facility, Mountainside Audio Labs.

Amy England at producer Bil VornDick's Nashville studio.

"Depending on different album projects, I listen to hundreds if not thousands of songs, and her song caught my ear," said VornDick on the phone from Nashville. "And then she approached me after the seminar, and we got to talking."

The studios are set in the building that once housed the Moose Lodge, a roadside bar and stage where Patsy Cline and other members of country royalty once played.

"There were lots of inspiring ghosts in there," said England, who recorded with a team of seasoned Nashville musicians, including top Nashville sessioner Bob Mater on drums, bassist Mark Fain (who has recorded with Alan Jackson and Ricky Scaggs), acoustic guitarist Russ Barenberg and lead guitarist Johnny Hiland, who had just returned from an overseas tour.

"They enjoyed the sessions," VornDick said of the musicians. "It's always good when musicians enjoy the music they're recording, because that doesn't always happen."

England recorded the vocal tracks in separate sessions with VornDick. "Which was pretty intense, because he's like a big bear," England said. "He's a great producer and teacher, but not he's not big on words. I'd go in there for a couple of takes and feel like I was giving all the emotion could, and he'd say, 'I'm just not feeling it.'"

VornDick pushed England as he'd once pushed Krauss. "I wanted to get her more relaxed in a recording environment," VornDick said. "I try to let the artists know that if they are having fun or getting emotional, it's going to come out that way."

And England did get emotional. There were a few nights, England said, when she would "return to [her] little hotel room and cry."

"But anything you do that's meaningful is kind of painful too," said England, who had a bit of a breakthrough moment in the studio when a backup singer, Skip Davis, came in as England was recording a vocal track. He cried.

"I've worked with this singer for a decade or more, 15 years, and I've never seen him get that emotional over a lyric," VornDick said. "So I told Amy I would take the songs by some publishers in town, and she got some songs signed to prominent companies in town, including The Wave."

One of England's greatest strengths, according to VornDick, is her songwriting; he called a few of the tracks she recorded in Nashville "exceptional."

"I try to put a lot of emphasis on songwriting, with a lot of imagery, so people have a lot to connect to in the song," said England, who just performed at the Nantucket Arts Festival's Live & Local series and has gigs lined up this fall with her brother, Andy Hunt, at New York City's Parkside Lounge.

England plans to release the results from the sessions in an album due out

next spring. I

For more on Amy Hunt England, go to www.amyengland.net