At just 14 years old, Amy Ryan is set to make history as the youngest performer at the Big Red Bash, sharing the stage with iconic Australian artists like Tina Arena, Jon Stevens, Ian Moss, and Vanessa Amorosi, next July. Amy’s journey to this momentous occasion began a mere six years ago when she made her debut in the music scene.
Eager to learn more about the rising star, we delved into Amy’s daily life, music journey, dreams, and more!
Amy’s short bio 👇
Amy’s Parents: Amy is from Chambers Flat, a little suburb in Logan City. We are located 45 mins from Brisbane City and the Gold Coast. We live on five acres which Amy has lived on her whole life with an assortment of animals over the time such as Horses, dogs, chickens, fish, a cow and some sheep at one point. Now a Honda Motorbike has taken the place of most of these animals. This is her newfound hobby, I guess. Before Amy was serious with the music she rode horses competitively every weekend and was riding her own 12 hd pony unaided by the time she was four years old. She competed in gymnastics and won her first competition in this and then tried out for cheerleading. Whatever Amy had a go at she mastered and achieved really well. Her music hobby turned into something we never dreamed would evolve into what it is today, especially at her age. She ended up getting busy with her picking up festivals and gigs, so the hobbies took second place. Amy has determination and is a really active hard worker, and if she wants something, she pretty much works hard till she achieves it.How did your music journey start?
Amy’s Parents: Amy has always loved singing and had an interest in music since she was a baby. When she was little, she often sang Karaoke and had a microphone singing to the television. We, as a family, travelled far and wide to some remote areas and listened to lots of country and bluegrass music, and we wrote about our trips as stories and poems. Amy begged for a guitar, so her grandfather gifted her a pink guitar for Christmas, and when she was in grade 3, she began lessons at her school. Experiencing Australia and the land we live on inspired her from a young age to write thoughts and feelings, turning them into songs.How would you describe the opportunity of playing at the Bash on the same stage as Tina Arena, Jon Stevens and other Aussie legends?
Amy: An absolute WOW Moment to be given this opportunity to play on the same stage. I am so honoured and grateful for such an awesome opportunity. Just incredible.Have you ever been to Birdsville?
Amy’s Parents: Yes, Amy and the family have been to Birdsville a few times. We all really love the travel getting there and Birdsville itself. Amy was 2 and a half when she first visited Birdsville, and that’s when we noticed her musical interest and rhythm, I guess. She picked up a couple of gibber stones and began tapping them together to the music she could hear that was playing at the pub. And our last visit was to make her music video for Diamantina Dreaming and two other songs she wrote. A fellow by the name of Peter Murray from Telegraph station offered to do a video for Amy and we were keen to do this. We ended up doing three videos. We tied this in with the Outback Masters golf event held at Birdsville where Amy was given the opportunity to open at their closing ceremony. It was a great trip Amy made friends with Don Rowlands and they ended up writing a song together.What inspired you to write the song ‘Diamantina Dreaming’?
Amy: The inspiration behind the song Diamantina Dreaming came from a poem that my father wrote “Diamantina Dreaming”, after a family holiday to the Diamanata region. I loved the poem & believed it could make a nice song, so together we re-constructed the verses to bring it to song. This was one of the first songs my dad Andrew & I wrote together. I was 9 years old at this stage.What’s your biggest dream?
Amy: Well, I’m ticking them off as I go. I’ve achieved so many dreams and goals I guess already such as recording not only my first but second EP, playing at some pretty big festivals and the biggest one yet to happen such as THE BIG RED BASH. I guess my biggest dream would be to spend 12mths on the road travelling Australia for my own tour. Oh and to record and release a bluegrass album.What’s a normal day in your life?
Amy’s Parents: A normal day for Amy is getting ready and off to school and we leave by 8am and she finishes at 3pm then home for afternoon tea. Monday is a quiet day usually after a big weekend of gigging or attending a festival. Some days, normally Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, she comes to the gym with me or rides her motorbike out in the paddock when we get home. Wednesday she has chord chart/music theory lesson. Thursday vocal lessons. Most afternoons she plays her guitar or writes songs. Amy is busy most weekends and has festivals booked throughout the year and 2024 is busy with bookings already such as Tamworth, Kalbar, Capella, Samford Show, Texas, Dolly Parton-Narromine, Dorrigo, Gympie, Boyne valley and now The Big Red Bash so she misses a little school here and there. She has a few local gigs in between. It’s pretty busy, and she practices the week or two before each festival as they are all very different. So sometimes she has a tutor to help her keep up with her schoolwork. She has a little time with her mates on weekends off, organising a sleepover or movie and shopping date when she can. We try not to have her gigging every weekend as she is still only 14 and needs to have that social interaction with her school friends as most of her music friends are much older, plus some downtime..Any fun anecdote related to music?
Amy: Lots of fun travelling to festivals making music, meeting new friends and catching up with those we have met along the road. The fun is the journey on the road to festivals and new destinations we encounter. One of the most fun times would be recording my films with Pete Murray in the outback. That was special and I guess my first concert and EP launch with Open Season Band. That was a whole lot of fun.Fav artists you can’t wait to see at Big RedBash 2024?
Amy: I would have to say Fanny Lumsden, Colin Hay and Ash Grunwald.
