Amy MacdonaldYoung Glaswegian songstress, now a truly International star—but a star that still believes the music comes first—talks to Jim Soars

Anyone with a modicum of interest in music will by now have heard of the phenomenon that is Amy Macdonald. The twenty-year-old singer-songwriter from Glasgow hit the headlines in July 2007 when her sizzling debut album was released. First of all let’s look at some facts: The album debuted at number two in the UK Official Album Chart and stayed in the top ten for five weeks, debuted at number one in the Scottish charts and stayed in that position for four weeks, went gold in four days, reached platinum in November 2007 and had sold a massive 500,000 copies by mid January 2008. To top it all, the album reached number one in the UK Official Album Chart on 13 January 2008. Not to mention the hit singles Mr. Rock and Roll, L.A. and This Is The Life all taken from the album. Not bad for a girl that only a couple of years ago was due to take up a University place studying social sciences. So how did it all start?

Amy was twelve at the time, and was on a family outing to Rothesay on the west coast of Scotland, clutching a crisp ten pound note that her Grandmother had given her to spend on a treat. Not wanting to buy ten pounds worth of sweets, she chose to purchase a copy of THE MAN WHO by Travis—one of those classic albums that most people seem to have in their record collection—an album of good honest songwriting, delivered with honesty and emotion, songs that can mean something to everyone. It was the first album that Amy had ever owned and was the one that would change the course of her life…

This is an extract of a feature first printed in issue 70 of Maverick Magazine. You can order a copy of this issue, including a longer version of this article, using our secure on-line store:

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