MUSIC PROFILE: Amythyst Kiah
She was a closet musician throughout her adolescent years, and learned primarily by ear, with a half year stint taking classical guitar in high school.
Recently, she collaborated and performed at Revival Fest in Savannah, Georgia and Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion with Poppa Moon and the Stargazers, a side project started by Matthew Martin, Patrick Taylor, Andrew Gibbens, and Taylor Green of this mountain (Johnson City, TN). She is currently working on booking more shows further outside the region in order to promote her new album, “Dig”, which is in currently available on iTunes, Amazon, and CDBaby. Amythyst studies old time music at East Tennessee State University; she received her B.A. in the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies, and is continuing to study music at the graduate level in Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. She is still a member of the East Tennessee State University Old Time Pride Band, and has traveled as far as the Czech Republic to play gigs with them and present Southern Roots music to the tight-knit bluegrass community in that country. She also works part-time at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum as an assistant researcher. Performing gives her the opportunity to do what she loves, and to connect with people in a way that goes beyond words. What she finds generally interesting about performing is watching how people present themselves and express themselves musically, and that presentation and expression is a window into one aspect of who that person is. Her music career is still in its budding stages; as an unsigned, independent artist, she continues to building a local audience, and her end goal is to perform nationally and internationally within the next 10 years. For a list of her performance schedule, visit www.amythystkiah.com. For booking venues, festivals, weddings, and private events, call 423-767-5787. A band can be provided upon request. OCTOBER 2013 | VIPSEEN | 65