Amythyst Kiah Covers Tori Amos’ “Sugar” and Talks Field Recordings & Rock & Roll | CONTRARY WESTERN

A couple hours before getting back on the road to head home to East Tennessee, Amythyst Kiah stopped by Vinyl Tap in East Nashville to share an incredible, post-punk cover of Tori Amos’ “Sugar” with us and to speak to the similar philosophies she’s found within old-time music and alternative music, the uniqueness of field recordings, and the life-giving nature of live music. “Studying old-time music—what attracted me to it was the weird, distinct sounds that people had, and it reminded me a lot of alternative music,” Amythyst said about her time spent researching old-time songs like “Pretty Polly” in the Appalachian archives at ETSU and understanding the connections that can be drawn to contemporary music and to songs by artists like Tori Amos, Green Day, and Joy Division. After speaking to the new wave approach she landed on for covering “Sugar” on her “Pensive Pop” EP and the inspiration she’s drawn from seeing the way Tori Amos approaches live versions of her songs, Amythyst also shared a powerful rendition of “Fancy Drones (Fracture Me)” off of her “Wary Strange” album from 2021. The existential nature of the conversation is something that’s stayed with us at Contrary Western—and so has Amythyst’s music and the insistence that we’re meant for more than just going through the motions. ★ Go Western on Instagram: ★ Stay Contrary on our Site: ★ Get after the Gold by Subscribing CREDITS Videography by Noah Cordell & Kenneth Herron Super 8 and Photography by Emma Delevante Color by Noah Cordell & Alex Hochstetler Recorded and Mixed by Luke Wiget Edited by Sam Farahmand Directed & Produced by Contrary Western in Nashville, Tennessee