by Malana Battle
This 60s style, soulful group is led by vocals from Amy Lynn Zanetto who’s joined by her husband, arranger, co-founder, and bari-saxophonist Alex Hamlin. Along with seven other musicians, they form The Gunshow. Zanetto’s voice is a cross between her favorite musical inspirations Etta James, Janis Joplin, and Aretha Franklin.
Amy Lynn and The Gunshow became a band because Zanetto and Hamlin wanted to work and spend time together, but were always gigging away from one another. One day, the two came together and decided to make a band together. Hamlin has many musician friends who helped form The Gunshow.
“I love horns and like old school music and it was just like the right formula,” Zanetto says. She then continues, “So it was like, let’s get a band together and let’s try it, let’s play around a little bit and people started really liking what we were doing. We were able to tour around and do a lot more music so it’s been really cool.”
When asked what it was like performing with The Gunshow for the first time, Zanetto replies, “It was one of those moments when I was like, yeah, this is exactly what I want to be doing!”
Her favorite part of Amy Lynn and The Gunshow is working with her husband. “I think that’s been really an incredible experience because we got to really learn different things about what we can do with saxophones and voice. We write all the songs and it’s really interesting to be able to work with my husband. But, not only that, he’s an excellent arranger and he’s an amazing saxophonist. With my voice and then his skills I think marrying the two together is pretty cool. I just think it’s cool that we get to do something that we love together.”
Fans can expect a performance from Amy Lynn and The Gunshow to be “…full out lots of dancing, lots of fun, lots of laughs, and just going to be an all-around really powerful, energetic performance,” she says. “I think you’ll leave feeling really happy because it seems to be a really nice positive energy when we perform; and people always say they feel good after.”
For the rest of the summer, Amy Lynn and The Gunshow will be hitting the road doing shows. This powerhouse band will be making an appearance in the Philly area on Friday, August 2 at the New Leaf Club at 8pm. Once the summer touring is over the band will be composing their first full length album.
Stay tuned for upcoming shows and be on the lookout for their new album. For more information about Amy Lynn and The Gunshow check out their website at www.amylynnandthegunshow.com.
