Though much has been made of AHI’s years spent backpacking everywhere from the hills of Ethiopia to the jungles of Trinidad, Prospect, the globe trotting singer/songwriter’s extraordinary new album, is the story of an even more profound journey: an internal quest for understanding and self-discovery. Recorded in Nashville with GRAMMY-winning producer Paul Mabury, the collection is bold and expansive, delivering on the promise of AHI’s first two records with a captivating, immersive sound that showcases the raw power of his gravel-on-silk vocals like never before. The songs here are deeply introspective, looking inward with piercing insight and honesty, and the performances are similarly fearless, blurring the lines between roots, folk, pop, and soul as they grapple with pain and healing, faith and resilience, connection and identity.

Born in Ontario, AHI (pronounced “eye”) grew up in a traditional West Indian family that considered music diversionary entertainment, but after dropping out of school to hike, meditate, and fast his way across the world, he set his mind to pursuing songwriting professionally. His debut album, We Made It Through The Wreckage, was a breakout hit, with lead single “Ol’ Sweet Day” racking up more than 14M streams and earning AHI an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. The attention helped him score a deal with Thirty Tigers for his next LP, 2018’s In Our Time, which garnered a JUNO nomination and led to dates with Patty Griffin, Michael Franti, and Lauren Daigle.

Born and raised in New Jersey, D’Amato first rose to international attention with the ‘The Shipwreck From The Shore,’ his 2014 debut for New West Records. Inspired in part by time spent studying with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon, the album garnered rave reviews on both sides of the pond, with NPR inviting D’Amato for a Tiny Desk Concert and lauding that “he writes in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen or Josh Ritter," and Uncut proclaiming that his songwriting "echoes with early Bob Dylan." D’Amato followed it up in 2016 with the Mike Mogis-produced ‘Cold Snap,’ which earned him his first national TV appearance along with an Artist You Need To Know nod from Rolling Stone, who hailed his writing as “folk music raised on New Jersey grit.” In 2017, D’Amato released a collaborative EP titled Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which raised more than $10,000 for refugee aid, and in 2019, he returned with the Five Songs From New Orleans, a stripped-down acoustic collection that earned even more praise from Billboard to Rolling Stone. Along the way, D’Amato toured extensively across the US and Europe, sharing bills with the likes of Ben Folds, Valerie June, Keb’ Mo’, The Felice Brothers, American Aquarium, and many more.

Photos courtesy the artist

AHI Website
Anthony D’Amato Website