Amanda Somerville

Amanda Somerville (born March 7, 1979, in Flushing, Michigan) is an American singer-songwriter, lyricist and vocal coach based in Wolfsburg, Germany, whose solo output runs parallel to her better-known session and guest work with acts such as Avantasia, Kamelot, Epica, Ayreon and her duo Kiske/Somerville. She launched her solo career in 2000 with the debut album In the Beginning There Was..., followed the same year by the EP Blue Nothing, both self-released and self-produced efforts showcasing her own songwriting, piano and vocal arrangements. In 2003 she issued the EP Never Alone, which sold around 5,000 copies in Germany. Her most fully realized solo statement is Windows, recorded between 2003 and 2008 and released December 2008/May 2009, co-produced with Sascha Paeth and Miro (Michael Rodenberg). The twelve-track record blends pop, rock and jazz influences, with Somerville writing nearly every song herself. Critics have described her solo style as soft, elegant pop-rock colored by hard rock, folk and soul, distinct from the symphonic-metal material she is usually hired to sing on. Beyond these releases, Somerville later fronted her own metal band Trillium and continued extensive session/guest work, but her solo discography remains the core of her output as a lead artist in her own right.