Read Amy Rigby’s Memoir and Listen to Her Podcast

I caught singer Amy Rigby’s June 2018 appearance at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge in Madison, and it was one of the finest performances I’ve ever seen by a singer-songwriter. That term doesn’t fully describe Rigby’s immense gifts and her devotion to the kind of pop and rock music that singer-songwriters often neglect. The Pittsburgh native debuted with the 1996 full-length Diary of a Mod Housewife, which garnered much-deserved praise from critics and listeners. After a stint in Nashville in the early Aughts, Rigby spent time in Ohio and France before settling in New York. She’s continued to record great albums, including 2018’s The Old Guys. Rigby wrote an account of her education as a musician, 2019’s Girl to City: A Memoir, in which she describes how she was shaped by the work of rockers like The Troggs. Read it, and listen to her equally compelling podcast, also titled Girl to City. I don’t often invoke the Velvet Underground song “Rock & Roll,” but Rigby’s artistry proves the music can change your life. EDD HURT