Aimee Van DynE

“I had lost my voice, and writing these songs was my way of reclaiming my voice”  

This is singer-songwriter Aimee Van Dyne's description of her journey back to music and back to herself, chronicled on her new album, 'Broken Love Songs,' a collection of songs whose "loosely connecting thread is (that of) going into the wilderness and emerging intact" (NY Music Daily). Submerged in that wilderness, Van Dyne examines the dark entanglements of failed relationships, acknowleging the pain of lost love and trust, but ultimately concluding that "on the other side of dark comes the light."  

Birthed after Van Dyne's long  hiatus from music, and recorded remotely during the pandemic, 'Broken Love Songs' was co-produced by multi-instrumentalist Jim Henry, who headlines a first-class team of musicians, including Jon Carroll (Mary Chapin Carpenter), Paul Kochanski (Lori McKenna), and Jon Graboff, (Ryan Adams). The tunes, acclaimed as "songs of durable beauty and intricate craftsmanship.” (Alan Young, Lucid Culture), are characterized by strong melodies, catchy hooks and three-part harmonies, reflecting influences such as Neil Young, The Beatles, and Lucinda Williams.

Born into a musical family, with both folk and classical influences (her Mezzo-Soprano grandmother performed at Carnegie Hall), Van Dyne began writing songs while still an art student at Brown University. It wasn't until she was in her thirties that Van Dyne began her career as a singer-songwriter, resulting in her first EP, "Owning Up" (2001) , which showcased the songs she performed with her six-piece band in NYC venues such as The Bitter End, The Living Room, and Arlene's Grocery. While in  New York, she also became a member of the female singer-songwriter collective, "The Chicks With Dip." 

With the arrival of her twin daughters in 2006, Van Dyne took a ten-year hiatus from music to be a full-time mom. In 2016, after a tumultuous divorce and a life-saving move from Brooklyn to the mountains, Van Dyne returned to songwriting and performing in her adopted home of Berkshire County, MA. The result, her newly-released album "Broken Love Songs" (2022) is a collection of old and new songs, reflecting the patchwork journey which has defined her life. Van Dyne currently lives in Berkshire County, MA, with her twin daughters and three silly cats.

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Singer-songwriter Aimee Van Dyne's musical journey has followed a circuitous path. Born into a musical family (her mezzo-soprano grandmother performed at Carnegie Hall), Van Dyne possessed a passion for music early on, spending her formative years singing harmonies and playing piano with friends and family. "Music was always my first love," she says; "even though I studied classical piano for ten years, my biggest influences were artists like Neil Young and The Beatles."

Van Dyne started writing her own songs while studying art at Brown University, blending the folk/rock roots of her musical heroes with her own confessional style. A few yers later, while studying architecture at The Cooper Union in New York City, Van Dyne began applying the layering techniques she was experimenting with in architecture onto her music, creating multi-textured sounds from simple vocal and instrumental tracks.

Van Dyne's primary songwriting tools soon became her guitar, her voice, and her multi-track recorder, which she used to create the harmonies that have come to characterize her songs. Harmony became such a prominent part of her songs that Van Dyne admits that "sometimes it was hard to go onstage and play a song with just me and the guitar, because I felt like half the song was missing!"

It wasn't until Van Dyne was in her thirties and working as an architect that she began her career as a singer-songwriter. The result was her first EP, "Owning Up" (2001) , which showcased the songs she performed with her six-piece band in NYC venues such as The Bitter End, The Living Room, and Arlene's Grocery. While in  New York, she also became a member of the female singer-songwriter collective, "The Chicks With Dip," whose influence shine through in her folkier tunes.  

With the arrival of her twin daughters in 2006, Van Dyne took a ten-year hiatus her music and architecture careers to be a full-time mom. In 2016, after a tumultuous divorce and a life-saving move from Brooklyn to the mountains, Van Dyne returned to songwriting and performing in her adopted home of Berkshire County, MA. The result, her newly-released album "Broken Love Songs" (2022) is a collection of old and new songs, reflecting the patchwork journey which has defined her life.  Van Dyne currently lives in Berkshire County with her dughters and three silly cats.