Amelia Day
Sun 3/8
6pm doors/7pm show
All Ages | $15 adv./$18 day of
Amelia Day is a musical jack-of-all-trades. Standing at the intersection of folk, rock, and pop, Day blends heartfelt storytelling, raw delivery, and unforgettable melodies into music that feels both fresh and familiar — like rediscovering an old favorite. A self-described writer before anything else, her perceptive lyricism extends far beyond her 23 years, with lines reminiscent of songwriting greats like Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. As the Spokesman-Review notes, Day has a signature style that features “wordplay, double-meanings and rhythmic variations,” with themes ranging from journeying into adulthood to climate change. Many of Day’s songs are also shaped by her intimate relationships, where her queerness and candor take center stage.
Day’s upcoming EP EGO TRIP is her most personal project yet. Lead single “Lady Los Angeles” traces the sting of betrayal after discovering infidelity, while the rest of the EP takes listeners on an intimate journey through her grieving process. “The character of ‘Lady Los Angeles’ is representative of my ex’s obsession with attention and fame at all costs and my own fear of being seduced by those same temptations,” Day explains. “It felt like she was having an affair, not only with another person, but with the often-self-aggrandizing culture of Los Angeles itself.”
Born and raised in the small town of Sumner, Washington — the self-proclaimed “Rhubarb Pie Capital of the World” — Day has been drawn to music-making since she could walk. “I had no idea what I was doing, but I had a toy ukulele and drum, and my parents had an upright piano that I would mess around on,” she recalls. “I could spend hours just playing around on the keys, making up little songs, which my piano teacher recognized and encouraged.” By middle school, Day was already writing her own songs “about myself and my (very angsty) preteen feelings.”
Once Day got to college, she began performing her originals publicly, though not without roadblocks. “I had horrible stage fright up until mid-college,” she admits. Starting with farmers markets and local restaurants, Day gradually built up the confidence and the following that would lead to sold-out shows in Seattle, Boston, and D.C., as well as festival appearances at Bumbershoot (“one of my favorite sets I’ve ever played...there was a line of people outside waiting to get in!”), Capitol Hill Block Party, Folklife Festival, and Seattle PrideFest — all on her own. “I’m proud of getting to this point as an artist completely solo,” Day says.
Day is proficient on guitar, keys, bass, and drums, often switching between instruments during her live performances. At other times, she lets the music take over — stepping away from the instruments to simply sing and dance with mic in hand. She says she aims to “create an environment of complete presence and joy, but also healthy catharsis of all the worst emotions.”
As the Vanderbilt Hustler highlights, her set is “energetic, emotional and full of fun, just like all of her music." Fans often leave Day’s shows on a high, blown away by her powerhouse vocals (drawing comparisons to Brandi Carlile, Norah Jones, Alanis Morissette, and others), and charmed by the joy she exudes while onstage.
Already boasting over a million streams on a number of songs, Amelia Day continues to prove herself as both a songwriter and performer, emerging as a voice destined to resonate for years to come.
