Amy Speace!

Amy Speace, an American singer working in the field of traditional music, performs at Copper Bar, the concert and performance space at Band on the Wall in Manchester's Northern Quarter. The show falls within the blues, country and folk repertoire.

Active since 2006, the American singer was discovered by Judy Collins, who signed the artist to her record label and has recorded Speace's songs. The 2020 AMA UK International Song of the Year award went to Amy Speace, and the 2024 album The American Dream produced a title track that topped the FAI Radio Charts for its first month. Speace has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition and has played festivals including Glastonbury and the Philadelphia Folk Festival, as well as the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The Blue Rock Session, the tenth solo album, came out in December 2025 and reached number one on the Folk Radio Charts. It was a solo acoustic recording, captured over three hours at The Blue Rock Studio during a writing retreat there. Alongside performing, Speace has published essays in The New York Times, No Depression and Salon.com, and leads workshops in songwriting and performance.

Speace's writing extends beyond songs. The handbook To The Performer: A Handbook for Singer-Songwriters appeared in 2025, and a debut poetry collection, The Cardinals, is due from Red Hen Press. Speace holds an MFA in poetry from Spalding University. Copper Bar hosts concerts and performances at Band on the Wall, at 25 Swan Street in the Northern Quarter.