Amy Madden

“From a hole in the sky” by Amy Madden has just been published by Belpid Books! It’s the collected song lyrics from over four decades of original music by Amy, much of it found on the albums released by Belpid Records.

Always known and appreciated for her strong song lyrics, finally they’re now all available and collected in this book.
You can buy it at fine New York book stores like Strand Books and Corner Bookstore, they can ship as well, or just contact us at info@belpid.com.

The latest album “Harlem demos” was a collection of original dark, urban, cinematic songs with signature ‘Madden’ lyrics, produced and orchestrated with musicality and restraint by Patrick Cowden in his studio in Harlem, and finished during the pandemic.

Amy Madden is a songwriter and bassist who began as a 1980’s regular at CBGBs and other New York venues. A writing member of the New York bands The Shivers, The Gift, Electric Skin, Cruel 13, the Theoretical She’s and Friction, she recorded and toured in the mid-1980’s with Seattle-born rocker and Geffen artist Adam Bomb, sharing the stage with members of Poison, The Cult, Motley Crue and The Rolling Stones. Appearing at several high-profile shows with John Lee Hooker in the mid 1980’s, she connected with other blues artists – Michael Powers and the late John Campbell, among them, whom she backed with an all-star New York band.

Moving to London to pursue a solo career, she achieved creative recognition and significant airplay for her EP ‘Minor Disturbances’, recorded with Jon Gordon (Suzanne Vega, Madonna) and originally released by One Big Guitar records and distributed by Rough Trade. It drew rave reviews from Melody Maker, Billboard and the NME. The single ‘Hotel Ruin’ featured the accordion of Charlie Giordano (of Springsteen’s E-Street Band).
A digital version of the U.K. 1989 vinyl release, ‘Hotel Ruin and other (vintage) Minor Disturbances and B-sides’ was released in 2013 by Belpid. Included were live recordings from her earliest performances, some dark poetic 8-track home demos, and a rare Jamaican radio dub-mix of one of her first compositions. 13 all-original tracks, featuring the stellar guitar of Jon Gordon, Jon Paris, Freddie Katz, Joe Pisciotta and others.

Back in New York since the 1990’s, she has appeared regularly with blues artist Jon Paris and drummer Steve Holley for more than 20 years, opening for George Thorogood and Johnny Winter on tour, and as a band, supporting artists from Phoebe Snow to Johnny Copeland. She appears on all 3 Paris cds, as well as several film soundtracks. More recently she participated in Rhys Chatham’s The Crimson Grail and performed and recorded live at Lincoln Center. She also played with rocker/songwriter Alan Merrill, Swedish guitarist Clas Yngstrom, and contributed bass and vocals on albums by fellow Belpid bands Stellan Wahlström Drift Band, Un Rodo Cora and Latvian Radio. In 2012, Amy was inducted into the NYC Blues Hall of Fame, acknowledging her work with John Lee Hooker, Paul Butterfield, Bill Dicey, and many other local and international artists.

In July 2012 she completed a project of all-original music written for an indie film soundtrack with guest appearances from Holley, Paris, Jon Gordon, former King Crimson composer and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, jazz violinist/cellist Rob Thomas, and saxophonist Danny Walsh. Titled ‘Discarded Angels’, the result was a 14 song concept-collection of original, melodic, under-produced but masterful music which straddled the categories of indie, blues, singer-songwriter, melodic and adult-alternative rock.

As a writer/poet, she maintains a website of essays (www.writerless.blogspot.com) and has also published a novel ‘Losing My Accent’, which is available for download on Amazon/Kindle. Belpid Books has published five collections of her poetry, the latest being “My shadow on your street” from 2025. Her later books introduced a denser more mature voice while still maintaining a characteristic intimacy with the audience. Her inherent musicality, the deft interchange of pronouns and palpable city aura are hypnotic. As both the reader and the “read” one finds these poems not just penetrating but addicting. You find yourself steeped in a literary landscape that has been described as “deeply familiar”.

And now the new collection of song lyrics “From a hole in the sky” has been released. Here songs from the albums released by Belpid Records are included, as well as earlier songs, both released and unreleased, showing that the lyrics hold up on their own as poetry as well.