For Bandcamp Friday I just spruced up my page to include o.g. CDs!
Whoo hoo!

AD: Tutto Bene Vol II / Variete / Big Embrace
Hegramatics: Gefühlswallung / OU: SCRAMBLED!

https://amydenio.bandcamp.com/music

What an honor to be teaching artist-in-residence for Jack Straw Production’s Blind Youth Audio Project 2026!

Every summer, this program engages students to create a variety of audio projects, from radio plays to public service announcements to original songs.

Bill Horist and I guided our group of 9 spectacular musicians to craft and record a new song from scratch. Everyone contributed great ideas and lots of energy! The group named themselves The True Ten, and our rap/soul/metal hit “Blood Don’t Fold” came together beautifully.

Deep thanks to Jack Straw Studios, Washington State Department of Services for the Blind, Agostinho Rodrigues Trust, ArtsWA, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, 4Culture, and individual contributors to make this program possible!

You’ll find the song half way down the page, in the third audio block.
https://www.jackstraw.org/youth_project/blind-youth-audio-project-2026/

See you in Ferndale on Friday August 28 at the Park Day 2026 Festival!

I’m doing a solo vocal looping set (beautiful songs and improvisations).

There will be 13 D.I.Y bands playing from 1-9, then they’ll show some films. My set will start around 4pm. FUN!

See you there!

Amy Denio & Bill Horist enjoy a lively chat

Raven Chronicles produced this podcast featuring a lively conversation between guitarist Bill Horist and myself on our creative perambulations, inspirations and thoughts on improvisation, prompted by writer Natalie Pascale Boisseau.

See you on Sunday in Seattle!

Looking forward to playing a beautiful collection of Pan-Latin and original music with the brilliant multi-instrumental geniuses in Correo Aereo at the Olympic Sculpture Park on Sunday, August 2 at 1:30pm!

Correo Aereo plays soulfully melodic, richly polyrhythmic pan-Latin and original music to decolonize your mind & celebrate life!

ABEL ROCHA: voice, harp, cuatro, jarana, guitar, etc.
MADELEINE SOSIN: voice, violin, jarana, bombo, maracas.
AMY DENIO: voice, clarinet, accordion.

Next Saturday, July 11 @ 3pm I’m playing toe-tapping songs for electric guitar and voice at the Broadview branch of the Seattle Public Library system! https://www.spl.org/hours-and-locations/broadview-branch

Today’s a good day… I just came up with the sequel to my country waltz sing-along hit “Dubya & His Pa”. Originally for accordion, I’ve revised the lyrics, and it sounds great on electric guitar! The sequel is called “45 or 47 (There’s No Way You’ll Get To Heaven). “

The original features the amazing Danny Barnes on banjo. https://amydenio.bandcamp.com/album/single-dubya-his-pa

The song depicts an imagined work-related presidential stress dream where the setting for a certain American president’s birthday party transforms into a raging sandstorm in the middle of the Arabian desert. The delicious cake is now coated with nasty grit, and everyone there is singing happy birthday out of tune…

🎶 Thinking about playing music again?

You’ve come to the right place ~ and summer’s the perfect time to change the channel. Beginning or advanced, you’ll enjoy my fun, personalized lessons. No matter if you play by ear or with books, I can help your musicality grow.

Our lessons will focus on ear training, reading music, technique, understanding rhythm, music theory, memorization, composing and improvisation! I’ll coach you on breath control, posture and developing your own tone. We’ll sing tongue twisters in many languages and make up melodies together. All styles welcome. Bring me your favorite song, and I’ll teach you to play it!

Choose from any ~ or all ~ of these instruments:
🎤 Voice
🎷 Saxophone
🎹 Piano
🎸 Guitar
🪗 Accordion
🎼 Clarinet
🎸 Bass

Message me to book a trial lesson today. (Click on that link to start an email!)

I teach in person at the Seattle Drum School, or we can meet online, whenever you want. No need to fret about the cost of gas ~ or holding down a rigid schedule.

Let’s play.

We did it! From 8 April – 3 May, 2026 Kultur Shock gallivanted through Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, North Makedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Poland and Hungary, playing live shows for our adoring fans ~ with our usual vim and vigor!

There were a more than a few mishaps along the way, but improvisation is the key to survival, right?

A few highlights:

The tour van’s rear window shattered when we (gently) closed the door in Skopje, but we’d packed some folded cardboard boxes “just in case”, and that very evening had grabbed some gaffer’s tape from the stage by mistake, so it all worked out fine

Val’s wife Lana ended up in a Bulgarian hospital a week into the tour ~ and needed Val’s care urgently. The tour teetered on complete cancellation until our pal Stevan “Šarki” Radoičić stepped up to the plate. In one day he managed to arrange his work schedule AND pass the audition, playing almost every song without a second thought. Happily, Lana recuperated quickly, so Val rejoined us in Frankfurt, so we had two guitars for the rest of the tour.

The backline (amps & drums) we rented for the second half of the tour filled the entire van, so we had to improvise another solution ~ and after three valiant attempts everything fit in just fine! We are now Tetrus experts!

ENJOY MY PHOTOS & VIDEOS posted on Flickr.com

Check out my Instagram Page

Check out Gino’s beautiful short movie about the tour

Last day of tour, Budapest, Hungary.

KULTUR SHOCK: 30 YEARS OF OPPTIMIZM TOUR

08/04 – (BULGARIA) Sofia – Stroeja

09/04 – (BULGARIA) Plovdiv ~ Undercity

10/04 – (TURKEY) Istanbul – Roxy

11/04 – (TURKEY) Eskişehir – Izole

12/04 – (TURKEY) Ankara – 6:45 KK

13/04 – day off/drive

14/04 – (GREECE) Thessaloniki – 8-Ball

15/04 – (N. MACEDONIA) Skopje – MKC

16/04 – (SERBIA) Belgrade – Zappa Barka

17/04 – (SERBIA) Novi Sad – SKC Fabrika

18/04 – (BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA) Sarajevo – Dom Mladih Skenderija

19/04 – MONTENEGRO Podgorica – CKZ Ribnica

20/04 – day off/drive

21/04 – (CROATIA) Rijeka – Impulse festival – Pogon Kulture

22/04 – (CROATIA) Zagreb – Vintage Industrial Bar

23/04 – (SLOVENIA)- Ljubljana – Gala Hala

24/04 – (AUSTRIA) Vienna – U4

25/04 – (GERMANY) Stuttgart – Kulturquartier-Proton

26/04 – day off/drive

27/04 – (GERMANY) Frankfurt – Das Bett

28/04 – (GERMANY) Munich – Backstage club

29/04 – (GERMANY) Berlin – SO36

30/04 – (GERMANY) Monheim am Rhein – Sojus 7

01/05 – (POLAND) Krakow – Klub RE

02/05 – (HUNGARY) Budapest – Stenk

I started teaching myself sax at age 21. Such a late start compared to so many others. By the time I released No Bones (1986) I was already a quarter of a century old, and felt like the janitor mopping up at the end of a Bullwinkle parade.

But this year Spoot Music celebrates 40 years of D.I.Y. existence ~ and is still going strong. More Nocturne Books (Abruzzo, Italy) will publish my book of travel adventures to celebrate it all. I’ve enjoyed creating maps and culling photos ~ and penning lots of crazy stories with the help of my editor Jane Mabry-Smith and many others. Danijel Žeželj is designing the cover.

Meanwhile,enjoy this fun interview with Michael Frank for Deutchlandfunk.

The broadcast streams for free, with no cookies until Wednesday 1 April, 2026.

May music divert the riptide of fascism!

Patagonia, August 2000. Photo: Amy Denio.

Celebrating the CD/LP release of LIVE IN PORTLAND!

Weds 18 Feb: DENMARK: Copenhagen ~ Jazz Vinterfest 
Thurs. 19 Feb: GERMANY: Nurenberg ~ Zum Tellerrand
Fri 20 Feb: AUSTRIA: Tirol ~ Workshop, Theater im Sudhaus
Sat 21 Feb: ITALY: Mestre (VE) ~ Hotel Bologna
Sun 22 Feb: ITALY: Pieve di Cadore (BL) ~ COS.MO
Mon 23 Feb: ITALY: Prato (PR) ~ Teatro Metastasio
 Tues 24 Feb: ITALY: Montisi (SI) ~ Il Barrino Sala del Cinema SPAR
Thurs 26 Feb: GERMANY: Chemnitz ~ Welltecho
Fri 27 Feb: GERMANY: Pohrsdorf (bei Tharand bei Dresden) ~ Saxstall
Sat 28 Feb: GERMANY: Landshut ~ Die Zentrale zum Riebelwirt
Sun 1 Mar: GERMANY: Geretsried ~ Hinterhalt
Tues 3 Mar: CROATIA: Zagreb ~ Workshop & Concert at Mocvara
Weds 4  Mar: GERMANY: Munich (private party)
Thurs 5 Mar: AUSTRIA: Salzburg ~ JAZZIT
Fri 6 Mar: CROATIA: Pula ~ Jazzbina Klub Kotač 
Sat. 7 Mar: SLOVENIA: Ilirska Bistricia ~ MKNZ

• Amy Denio: Alto Sax, Clarinet, Voice
• Jessica Lurie: Soprano, Alto & Tenor Sax, Voice
• Sue Orfield: Tenor Sax, Voice
• Tina Richerson: Baritone Sax, Voice
• Robert Kainar: Drums, Percussion