Watch

Read

Listen

Go

Play

Shop

Community

Play (Lists)

Nate Amor: “The Sun Will Shine Again”

Resilience is difficult to maintain, especially when it feels like life or fate keeps throwing hurdles when you’re already down. This is something singer-songwriter and musician Nate Amor knows a lot about; he opens up with contributing writer, Margaret Adams, about his experiences with fear, pain, and doubt, and how his upcoming album helps tell his story of resilience. 

Nate Amor
Nate Amor / Image Courtesy of Ashley Joy

Nate Amor has been sharing his music with the world for two decades now; debuting with “Long Five Days” in 2001, he has since released two other albums; released a multitude of singles; been a contestant on NBC’s The Voice; performed with artists like Train, Mat Kearney, and Marc Cohn; and is currently a vocalist and member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Despite his long resume, Amor’s career didn’t start with his first release; rather, it started in a school gymnasium in Minneapolis. 

Amor pinpoints his first moment of clarity in his aspiration as his high school talent show, where he performed “In the Ghetto” by Elvis Presley. 

“Full jumpsuit, and sharpie for sideburns…” wrote Amor. “[A]bout 1000 of my peers in the gym and I knew at that moment on that stage I wanted to do that for a living.”

Growing up listening to Elvis and the Beach Boys, Amor had a knack for story-telling in the rock n’ roll and Americana styles. He mentioned a wide variety of inspiration for his current musical style and writings, including Frank Sinatra, Chris Isaak, Andrew Bell, John Mayer, and Kings of Leon.

Nate Amor
Nate Amor / Image courtesy of Nate Amor

Amor recently relocated to Los Angeles and is reigniting his career with an album, illustrating a newer and more refined perspective. 

“My relocation end of Jan 2022 really affected my work positively as LA is an

industry hub and I wanted to be in LA a long long time ago,” wrote Amor. “20 years ago I was going to make the leap… but family life put a pause on it.”

Amor has been dropping singles from his upcoming album, “Keep Dreaming,” which is set for release in January 2023. Written in Nashville, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, Amor worked with legendary mixers like Joe Zook and Drew Middleton. The fresh perspective was able to embellish the music with odes to some of his favorite artists such as Kings of Leon, Ray Lamontagne, and Chris Stapleton. 

His single, “Lose This Way,” illustrates an intense and rock-inspired perspective of struggle with loss, while “Ain’t Hitting Me Yet” offers an easier, looser tune that discusses denial. His third and most emotional single, “Count on the Rain,” brings a surprisingly positive and incredibly honest take on pain and suffering in life. 

Inspired by his own recent hardships with his relationships with others, sobriety, and himself, the album offers a pathway into his experience dealing with feelings of rejection, pain, and eventual healing and peace. “Count on the Rain” illustrates how Amor was able to come to terms with his obstacles, and how his optimistic perspective led him to the truth: the storm will eventually end. 

“I had just come out of a toxic and rough relationship … right at the start of getting

sober again AND the start of the covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. “This song was a promise to remind myself. Knowing from the past times of heartbreak and healing as well as getting sober again, that it would only get better,” Amor continued. “… I’d heard from my faith[:] ‘in this life you WILL face troubles of many kinds.’ But there is hope. With the rain, comes growth and the sun will shine again!”

Sung with Amor’s strong and powerful voice, the lyrics offer a hopeful and insightful glance at life in the middle of the storm cloud: “You wanna count on something you can see/then count on the rain/Count on the pain/to remind you of everything that you need to face.” 

He has since released a new single that illustrates what life looks like when the rainbow finally comes; “Beautiful” emphasizes the power of unconditional love: “You never know where this life will go/But you’ll never walk alone.” 

The production of “Keep Dreaming” also offered Amor knowledge about his own abilities, and how a team can highlight the most perfect version of his own artistic vision. 

“… I have learned that working with a producer does bring in an extra layer of goodness and songs get to a higher level,” wrote Amor. 

His knowledge of musical production and performance is also inspired by his work with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, for which he is a lead vocalist: “TSO is an amazing experience and band to be in,” wrote Amor. “I’ve learned that getting things hammered out and as close to perfect in rehearsals is the key. So that when you hit the stage, everything is so locked in that it’s much more natural to perform. The music and songs become a part of you.”

He recounted his experience with The Voice a bit differently, and he offered a more realistic look at the short-lived opportunities that networks offer artists who are looking for a break. 

“I learned there that it’s a TV show and really isn’t catered to the artists,” wrote Amor. “Can you name one of the winners of the VOICE in any of the seasons? It’s amazing entertainment for sure, but just not something great for a career.”

With a fresh perspective and new album underway, Amor is demonstrating what life looks like when the sun shines again; different struggles and challenges will still appear, but knowing that it will end can keep us resilient. Amor’s ample experience inside and outside the industry continues to inspire his work. 

“… [I] have been working with lots of producers on lots of new material, also I have a song from a legendary songwriter I was given and we’re going to cut that track early in 2023 as well,” Amor updated. “Lots of goodness coming.”

Make sure to catch all the goodness coming from Nate Amor with his new single, “Gone,” coming out on Friday, December 16, 2022. Until then, audiences can stream his last few singles (“Beautiful,” “Count on the Rain,” “Lose This Way”, and “Ain’t Hitting Me Yet”) on any popular streaming platform. Find Nate Amor and more excellent music on the Alchemical Records Multigenere Mixture playlist on Spotify.

Margaret Adams, Contributing Writer at Alchemical Records

Margaret Adams

Margaret Adams is a Psychology major and Rhetoric and Writing minor at The Catholic University of America from New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to her work with Alchemical, she writes for CUA’s student newspaper, The Tower, and has recently been named Quill Editor. She enjoys reading, writing, and looking at pictures of her dog, Bella.

Subscribe to Alchemical Records today to support our efforts online and in print. 

Join the Alchemical Records Street Team to promote these and other artists, live music, and music community organizations & events while receiving cool perks from artists throughout the region.

More to explore

Foghat Sonic Mojo 2024 Tour. Fillmore Silver Spring, MD March 9
DMV

Foghat’s Roger Earl Refuses to Slow His Ride

By this point in his life, Foghat founding drummer Roger Earl has visited quite a few doctors. But what may be surprising is that the percussionist, 77, is quick to point out that many of the medical professionals who have worked on him also enjoy rocking out.

“Nearly all the doctors and surgeons I know, they all play something: trumpet, sax, violin, guitar,” Earl said recently. “There’s not too many drummers that are surgeons, there’s probably a good reason for that!”

Earl half-jokingly invites his surgeon-rockers to join him and the other members of Foghat onstage at the Fillmore in Silver Spring March 9, where they will be headlining the Rock and Roll for Children Foundation benefit for the Children’s Inn at NIH. Earl, the only original member of Foghat still in the band, will be banging the skins behind guitarist Bryan Bassett and other members Scott Holt and Rodney O’Quinn. “Slow Ride,” the band’s 1975 megahit, is all but assured to be on the setlist, along with tunes from Foghat’s most recent record, “Sonic Mojo.”

Read More »