Amy Stolzenbach studied piano first, but it was guitar that made her famous. She gained notoriety because she was a female who could really play a guitar, not as just a rhythm player but as a soloist. This shouldn’t be a rare thing, but perception has a funny way of replicating itself. No one expects a girl to be able to rock out with a guitar, so few girls tend to exert the energy and commitment it takes to get there. This worked to Stolzenbach’s favor initially, but audiences soon began to be impressed with her not as a female guitarist but simply as a guitarist.



Stolzenbach was the founder of the world famous all-female tribute band Hell’s Belles, where she fearlessly tackled the part of AC/DC’s notorious guitarist Angus Young. With Hells Belle’s, she toured extensively and received national attention. The band received national press in magazines such as Spin, Rolling Stone and Rockrgrl magazine.



Even with this success, Stolzenbach soon tired of the shtick of being in a tribute band. It was meant as a fun project, but it soon took on a life of its own.



“Honestly, I never really saw being someone else as being my career,” she says.

When she left the band she had offers from some of the top local bands in Seattle. She spent time with musicians such as Carrie Akre, Kim Virant, Sweet Lou and Glorious. With Akre’s band she played in KMTT’s Mountain Music Lounge and at White River Amphitheater’s very first show while opening for Heart. With Glorious she played live on KEXP’s “Audioasis” radio show and opened for Alanis Morissette at White River. In 2005 she was nominated for the Best Guitarist award in the Seattle Weekly Music Awards. Stolzenbach auditioned and qualified to jam with Limp Bizkit during their 2002 search for a guitarist to replace Wes Borland.



But guitar skills aside, a little known fact is that this isn’t the only thing that makes her unique. Stolzenbach plays piano, bass, drums, and she is an accomplished producer and studio engineer. The proof is in the pudding. Her first solo album, On and On, speaks for itself. There are 10 songs on the album, and 100 percent of them were created by her own hand. She played all of the instruments and did all of the studio engineering.



My personal favorite is song two, “Draw the line,” with it’s tweaked out vibraphone, fuzzy drum loop, and slow, deliberate tempo. Why anyone who can sing so well would avoid the microphone for so long is a mystery to me. Her voice has a resemblance to Sheryl Crow but with a lightness and vulnerability. Her sound is described on CDbaby as “Aimee Mann and Sheryl Crow’s little sister meets Radiohead in the back alley of a U2 and Beatles fan convention.” That description is backed up by her blend of organic with inorganic sounds throughout the album. For instance, during the guitar solo on song seven, “Walk on Water,” she was documenting her recording process on digital video for possible use in a music video later. Completely by accident, an unusual feedback noise from the digital camera was recorded. She thought it sounded cool so it stayed in the song. 



Surprisingly, it wasn’t AC/DC that received a lyrical nod on the album. During song four, “I Don’t Need You,” it was Pink Floyd’s sentiment that she sang. To be exact, the lyrics go, “I let you go. But why shouldn’t I? It was a fast track to the dark side of the moon. All of the times I think back and laugh. Poised at the brink of content with the wind at my back.”



When asked why it took her so long to commit to her own music she says, “I guess I just needed something to say.”



To buy the album and listen to what she has to say, visit: http://www.cdbaby.com/ cd/stolzenbach2.