Coming from a musical family, based out of Peekskill, NY, Alana Amram has been in music in some fashion for most of her life. By the time Amram was a teenager, she was already a part of NYC’s underground scene — pasting flyers, writing for several zines, and spending quite a bit of time in this town’s now vanishing D.I.Y. venues. 

Amram attended SUNY Purchase with the intention of studying film, but left to pursue a life and career in music. She’s done studio work for several bands at a bassist and has hit the road with a number of bands. Known for having a wide array of employment — she’s been a bartender, has run diamonds and has been a guitar teacher, among others — her songs as a solo artist come from hard-fought experience. In fact, Amram had started penning song lyrics during slow nights bartending and figuring out what she was going to do with her life. 

Her solo career began in earnest when she started playing shows in the East Village and in Brooklyn back in 2006, and since then she’s been getting quite a bit of critical praise for her work. Now based in Los Angeles, CA, Alana Amram and her backing band, the Rough Gems will be releasing their sophomore effort. Spring River on March 4th, and the first single, “Should I Go Now” was elegantly simple, mournful song, full of the sort of heartache that sounds perfect for a lonely honky tonk around closing time, when you’re likely stuck with your own regrets and thoughts. 

The latest single “People Like to Talk” evokes a  dusty, old-timey T. Bone Burnett-like sensibility  thanks to a hauntingly sparse arrangement, which consists of Amram’s acoustic guitar, slide guitar and drums, all while following some of the old troubadour tradition. In fact, the lyrics have some rather novelistic detail – the narrator seems to brave the world despite the fact that people are gossiping about her with her best face.