Amy Wigton

Meet the furniture

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:22:13 +0000

It’s time to re-aquaint myself with my furniture. It’s been a big week, my first Amy Liz show on Monday night, band rehearsal Tuesday, promoting Friday’s show, booking future gigs, producing CD’s, (major printer grief), website, Facebook, and the most important thing…what to wear for the gig. I re-aquainted myself to my wardrobe late Friday afternoon and was met in the mirror with some scary looking eyebrows that needed attention. It’s really good to perform so I can get out of my sweatpants! Last nights show went really well. My promotion efforts were successful with a room filled with friends and new folks. I have a band of sound tweeks (hearing is good!) and we brought all of our own sound equipment (plus my husband’s new PA prototype to test out) and hauled all this stuff to a fro to the cars. It’s Saturday morning now and I am fried. My house is screaming for attention and since it’s February 4th it really is time to finally remove the last remnants of Christmas. I swore I wasn’t going to turn on my computer, but look, here I am writing this! My home desperately needs me and I know I need to unplug to give it the attention it deserves. My son and husband are out today so I can have a pure bonding effort, (without nagging for family participation!). But since we are in the age of “instant marketing” I really should download the video footage, upload pictures, update my website, upload pics to facebook and send out thank you emails. I’ll try to intersperse laundry and packing up stuff while the computer’s thinking. Oh couch I so desire a nice visit with you this afternoon! Just you, me, the cats and no laptop! Sigh.

My new BLOG

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:45:47 +0000

A Blog about A Blog, or Blog Blog

Welcome to my very first Blog. I am an uncommon music mom that swims in a whacky crossover world between children’s and adult music. With the release of my new album “Amy Liz Kid Hits,” I’ve taken the plunge and rebranded my children’s musical self as Amy Liz and maintained my singer/songwriter adult self as Amy Wigton. Since we are all now slaves to the internet and google, it made sense not to have “Gallop Little Horsey” followed by something adult related, like footage from a comedy show I did a while back. (There was a bad word in it, shhhhh, don’t tell the kids).

This dual name thing is all very new to me and I’m not sure if it’ll cause clarity or just more confusion for my poor wittle bwain. I’m secretly hoping that maybe Amy Liz can get away with things that Amy Wigton would never imagine doing and vice-versa. This way neither would be required to claim responsibility!

I really didn’t plan on adopting a new name. I’ve been performing music with kids for 9 years as “Miss Amy.” The preschoolers called me this and it just stuck, since every teacher’s name at a preschool starts with “Miss.” But just as I was getting ready to release my CD, this lady on the east coast came along and declared she is the real “Miss Amy” and has the trademark papers to prove it! Now why would someone come along and blow my perfect name conventions out of the water?! I considered the name “Miss Amy West” but it didn’t roll off the tongue so easily. More about HER in a later blog.

My blog will relate to women, musicians, songwriters, moms, parents, artists, entrepreneurs, free thinkers, dreamers and anyone who is creatively inclined or aspires to be. To those who keep their sense of play and wonder alive and enjoys being physically active and engaged in the world. And to those who like looking at things from a different angle or just some simple entertainment and a laugh to go along with that morning cup of joe.

I wish to offer insights into the off-beat process of being a musical “mompreneur.” I’ll provide some snippets into “thinking outside of the box” and some good tips on navigating the music world in the genres that I travel. I’ll share my creative process, my art, ideas, inventions, inspirations, perspectives, experiences, successes, failures and I won’t blog about any fits of rage. Unless they are very, very funny.

I’m pretty unconventional and other moms sometimes don’t know what to make of me. For instance, I love to climb trees to the top to catch a good sunset. It’s just weird to me that no one else does this. If you do, please join me — my redwood offers the greatest views!

As a songwriter, musician, performer, teacher, manager, publisher, actress, producer, engineer, circus clown, street musician, comedian, mother and wife, I’ll share some interesting stories of what it’s like doing what I do. I’ll introduce you to some of the colorful people I’ve met along the way who have also made their way into my songs. And of course the great stories about the amazing kids, whose honesty, fresh insights and funny nature I’ve captured in my journal throughout the years.

Being a musician in both genres blends the best of both worlds. I can bring my musicianship to children’s songs and more play to my adult. It’s been great for my heart and it really indulges my sense of humor. So here it is, my blog and I’m ready to declare to all that “yes, this chic guitar player IS wearing shark socks!”

I love my shark socks!

Photo by Stephanie Jackson

Rancho Nicasio Feb 3rd!

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:39:41 +0000

The band and I will be back at the Ranch for a great evening of original acoustic rock with Americana flare.
I’ve been writing and recording and will be featuring some new tunes. This is such a vibey place nestled in beautiful West Marin. The moon will be bright again that night so it’ll light your way there and back!

BRAND NEW CD!

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:02:56 +0000

Announcing my brand new CD “Amy Liz Kid Hits.” This is a collection of 13 of the hit songs that I have performed with preschool and elementary aged children for the past 9 years.

This album took over 5 years to complete. The process was a huge learning curve for me. I learned a lot about being a producer, audio engineer, sound designer and using Protools in the process. I also found out more than I really wanted to know about licensing, branding, trademarks, CD design and packaging.

I loved the creative process and all the silliness that went into it. I played all the instruments which included: guitar, ukulele, mandolin, flute, slide whistle, casaba, juiro, shaker egg, bongos, claves, bottles (tooting and tapping) hand claps, midi effects as well as lots of vocal effects. It made me feel very “Bobby McFerrinesque when I mimicked a chicken drum with my voice. Recording and using sound effects was something new to me and it was fun discovering that the gurgling sound from our water pipes (I won’t mention which one) provided the perfect rhythm track for the song “Slippery Fish.”

As a suburban mom, it was a little interesting when asked as I picked up my son from school, “what have you been up to today?” Sometimes an honest answer received a pained smile and a blank stare. I would spend hours working on a cow moo or elephant trumpet sound and it made me very dizzy. I had to lie down a lot and I’m sure the neighbors still don’t know what to think of me.

Putting the CD packaging together was a marathon and test of pure will and endurance. I enjoyed drawing all the characters (with the help of YouTube) and boy if I knew now what I didn’t know then about Photoshop, the process would have gone a little smoother. I am very happy with this CD and feel that it is a good reflection of the quality of work that I endeavor to produce. It was an absolute gas and adventure and I hope you and your children have a ball with it.

CD RELEASE CELEBRATIONS 1/30/12 & 2/27/12

admin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:23:37 +0000

CELEBRATING THE RELEASE OF MY NEW CD!

Amy Liz Kid Hits

Ghiringhelli’s – Event Room
2 MONDAYS
JANUARY 30th & FEBRUARY 27th
6:30-7:30

1535 South Novato Blvd., Novato, CA 94945
(415) 878-4977
GHIRINGHELLIS WEBSITE

$3.00 per person
Plus you can order off the children’s menu
and of course the regular adult menu

Family Fare begins at 5:30.
Enjoy a deliciously good time out with your youngsters!

There will be arts and crafts and interactive games for the kids and
adults can kick back and enjoy an evening out with a good meal.

Bread & Roses Show

admin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:19:43 +0000

We had an incredible moment after a recent show for Bread & Roses at a facility in San Francisco. This video captured an impromptu little jam at the end of the night for one of the men who had missed our show. I broke out the guitar and we had a little jam. It brought tears to his eyes and it touched me deeply that we could share some joy and healing with him and all these men. Everyone was so warm and appreciative that we brought music into their day. I can’t describe how wonderful this night was.

This room was incredibly beautiful. With Martin Luther King on the opposite wall. We sang an hour long set, with lots of accompaniment of clapping and swaying. We even broke into an impromptu version of Brick House (oh one never knows what music will come out). The building used to be a convent and was built back in the late 1800′s and was one of the few buildings to have survived the ’06 quake/fire.

Kind of an odd side note: Right before we began to play our set, my guitar (for some odd reason) detached itself from my very hearty guitar stand and landed crashing onto the floor. DOH! It was okay (whew) but I noticed later that there is a red colored mark on it, and it’s permanent. It’ll be my momento (cuz it happens) of the mark this place wanted to make on us, and it did!

“Story of Love” New Single

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:01:45 +0000

Check out our newest release “Story of Love” is officially released! Available as a single and downloadable on cdbaby, itunes, amazon etc.

This song was inspired by a couple of people who are out there doing extraordinary things. The first person is about a woman I read about in the newspaper who takes her band onto muni buses in San Francisco and plays music for the passengers. Her name is Rupa and her band is Rupa and the April Fishes. I think this is a fabulous and brave thing to do to bring a little joy and music into people’s lives when they least expect it. Surely it makes their day extraordinary. The second person is a man I have met, Michael Pritchard who is a motivational speaker as well as a successful comedian who goes into some of the toughest schools imaginable and talks with them about tolerance, bullying and self esteem. He puts himself on the line and he transforms people by his words and laughter. He is one my heroes. I have encountered his amazing gift of kindness first hand. There are people out there such as teachers, artists, volunteers and healers who may be under the radar screen but do extraordinary things to serve others. I regard them as the foot soldiers that truly make this world go around. I am thankful that I was able to put this into a song and convey my feelings about what people do from the kindness of their heart.

Festival Videos & Pictures

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:22:58 +0000

We had a fantastic weekend the weekend of June 11th & 12th. The trio performed (sans Dave who was unable to join us) at Fairfax Saturday then the full band at the Novato Art & Wine. Both shows we fantastic, we had a blast.

Go to the Music/Media under Videos, there’s a featured song from each of these festivals. Go to Photos and there’s some nice shots to share.

Keep Novato Theater Project Alive!

admin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:06:40 +0000

Now that the first hurdle has been cleared and the city council has approved the sale of the theatre, it’s time to raise the over 2 mil required to see this dream come alive. Keep pledged! for information on the theatre go to:

This past August we performed at the Rock & Pledge along with Wunderbread 5. It was a grand success with over 45K raised and 1000 attendees.

Another fundraiser earlier in the year at City Hall on Wednesday April 27th.

VIDEO SHORT OF EVENT

Sandra Krasner-88 yr old pianist

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:53:02 +0000

Sandra Krasner is an 88 year old woman who has Alzheimer’s Disease. She is a lifelong classical pianist who studied with Anton Rovinsky (a pupil of Artur Schnabel) and gave numerous recitals at Douglas College in New Jersey. As her memory continues to decline her repertoire of what pieces she remembers is shrinking. My husband Manny and I invited her and her daughter Julie to our home so that we could record her. When Sandra and Julie arrived that day, Sandra walked in, immediately sat down at our piano and her fingers began to fly. We rushed around like chickens to turn on the computer, get the session up and press record to capture her in her moment. Sandra is originally from New Jersey and now lives in New York City

Sandra’s playing