Morro Bay songstress Amalia Fleming returns from Nashville for some hometown shows 

[{
    "name": "Ad - Medium Rectangle CC01 - 300x250",
    "id": "AdMediumRectangleCC01300x250",
    "class": "inlineCenter",
    "insertPoint": "8",
    "component": "2963441",
    "requiredCountToDisplay": "12"
    },{
    "name": "Ad - Medium Rectangle LC01 - 300x250",
    "id": "AdMediumRectangleCC01300x250",
    "class": "inlineCenter",
    "insertPoint": "18",
    "component": "2963441",
    "requiredCountToDisplay": "22"
    },{
    "name": "Ad - Medium Rectangle LC09 - 300x250",
    "id": "AdMediumRectangleLC09300x250",
    "class": "inlineCenter",
    "insertPoint": "28",
    "component": "3252660",
    "requiredCountToDisplay": "32"
    }]

Like a lot of songwriters, Amalia Fleming has the trials and tribulations of romance on her mind. On her newest EP produced by Tyson Leonard, Shifting States, all five songs examine ups and (mostly) downs of relationships.

"The Truth Is" a song about loneliness and abandonment: "I don't want to sound like another lost soul/ Or like I'm looking for the other half to my whole/ But truth is that I'm losing/ The feeling I'm in control."

"Art" is about wanting to fall in love with the wrong person and making lemonade out of lemons: "It's okay if you break my heart. I'll just turn us into art."

"Intentional Mistakes" is about learning and growing: "I'm done going for the wrong ones. I will wait as long as it takes. I've made enough intentional mistakes."

"Tennessee (Easy Love)" is about how a previous failed love taught her how to be in current love: "Now that I wake up every morning/ And he's laying here next to me/ How could I miss all our tossing and turning/ When I've got easy love in Tennessee."

"Stability" is about surviving dysfunction: "He brought this on himself/ Does he regret putting me through hell/ Can he tell I'm doing well?/ Can he tell it's just a sell?"

Ultimately, however, she finds her footing: "It was me I had it wrong/ Stability was here all along/ I will share all of me/ When somebody loves me wholeheartedly/ And whether they stay or leave/ I'll keep sense of identity."

You see, a funny thing happened to young, lovelorn Amalia after leaving her hometown of Morro Bay to attended college a couple years ago. She grew up.

"Living in Nashville and attending Belmont University has taught me so much about the music industry and allowed me to explore my different interests," she explained while home for the summer, where she'll play a handful of Central Coast shows. "I spent most of my time in high school writing almost every day and performing around town. Once I started taking songwriting classes [in college], I learned that writing for an assignment or deadline vs. writing on your own schedule when feeling inspired can be a very different process."

She recorded Shifting States last summer in her home studio with longtime collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Alec West and released it in November.

"This project transformed my songwriting, allowing me to explore some deep conflicts in my past experiences and relationships. I listed the tracks in the order I wrote and recorded each song so that my listeners could follow my emotional evolution during the biggest two years of my life."

Songwriting has been her passion since age 9, inspired by a love a music and a need to express her emotions.

"My desire to positively influence and connect with others motivated me to keep putting myself out there. In the last two years at Belmont, there have been moments where I've felt like I've lost touch with why I started writing in the first place. Often, I was writing what I thought other people would like and what would be commercially marketable rather than what I was truly inspired to write. And in some cases, this is the reality for professional songwriters. However, I began to realize that I was disconnected from the joy I used to feel when songwriting. Living in the songwriting capital of the world where hundreds of young artists were the 'next Taylor Swift' of their hometown can make you feel like you're not unique and really puts the pressure on. In order to reconnect with my authentic love for music, I felt compelled to take a step back from the artist world and pursue other avenues on the business side."

She's done a number of internships at organizations such as the Nashville Songwriters Association and Milk + Honey Music.

"After breaking my tunnel vision where all I needed was to be famous, I started to wonder if it was really what I wanted. Since then, I have done all that I can to learn more about myself and the industry and I am so grateful for all of the incredible opportunities I've had. I'll be returning to Belmont in the fall to finish school and work a paid internship with Sony Music Publishing in Nashville, and I'm looking forward to continuing to explore publishing and songwriting in my career."

See Amalia this Saturday, May 27, at Schooner's in Cayucos (1 p.m.), Friday, June 9, at Tooth and Nail Winery in Paso (4 p.m.), Thursday, June 15, at Hidden Kitchen in Cayucos (6 p.m.), and Sunday, June 18, at The Siren in Morro Bay (7 p.m.; 21-and-older).

Red Dirt heroes

Numbskull and Good Medicine bring Oklahoma and Texas music ambassadors Jason Boland & The Stragglers back to the Central Coast next Thursday, June 1, at The Siren (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $26 at goodmedicinepresents.com).

They've helped define the Red Dirt sound as well as taken it to new places. Their most recent record, The Light Saw Me, is a sci-fi concept album produced by Shooter Jennings that follows the story of a Texas cowboy who's abducted by aliens in the 1890s and is dropped back off in Texas in the 1990s, and the songs explore philosophical and religious themes.

Now 20 years deep into their career, they've sold half a million records and released 10 independent albums. Another recent claim to fame was Boland releasing a cover of Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life Again," with proceeds going to charity. Radio programmers scooped it up and Boland's version spent 11 weeks on the Top 40 Americana Singles Chart.

Jeremy McComb opens.

Also at The Siren ...

Fox Medicine plays a free show (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older) on Thursday, May 25, delivering "heavy, raw fuzz in a hypnotic fashion" and calling it "bubblegum doom," according to their bio.

On Friday, May 26, get your '80s party vibe on with Club DV8 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; free), a local SLO County dance music group covering select hits from the new wave era combining guitars and synths. Hear covers of David Bowie, The Cars, INXS, The Cure, and many more.

Soleffect, with two female singers, guitar, bass, drums, and trumpet, will funk-up your Saturday, May 27 (2:30 to 5:30 p.m.), followed by Legends Band (7:30 to 10:30 p.m.), playing your favorite '70s to '90s rock from the likes of AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, and Alice In Chains.

Hailing from Bristol UK and led by Gretsch-endorsed guitarist Ruzz Guitar, Ruzz Guitar's Blues Revue will deliver a night of ripping guitar music on Sunday, May 28 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; free). Imagine "the Big Band swing of The Brian Setzer Orchestra, blend it with the Texas Blues of Jimmie Vaughan, and throw in a few other influences from artists such as B.B. King, Ray Charles, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, and you'll get an idea of the sound that Ruzz Guitar's Blues Revue put out!" his bio explains.

On Tuesday, May 30, Willie Nelson's youngest, Micah Nelson, who plays under the name Particle Kid, will present a psychedelic folk-rock experience (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $20 at eventbrite.com). He's opened for Flaming Lips and uses similar multi-media in his performance.

More music ...

Don't forget art rocker Yves Tumor plays the Fremont Theater this Thursday, May 25 (8 p.m.; all ages; $29.50 at seetickets.us). This one's guaranteed to be a spectacle of experimental electronica, psychedelia, and R&B.

Tom Brown of SLO Vibes plays Paso's Libretto this Saturday, May 27 (6:30 and 8:15 p.m.; $25 at librettopaso.com/events). The combo features Brown on vibraphone, Dan Kwak on piano, Brandon Fansher on bass, and Jeaux Knox on drums. Expect classic and modern jazz, blues, and Latin standards.

The Basin Street Regulars Hot Jazz Club hosts Kathryn Loomis & Company and the SLO High School Honors Jazz Band playing "Hot Swingin' Jazz" this Sunday, May 28 (1 to 4 p.m.; all ages; $15 general admission and more info at my805tix.com), in the Pismo Beach Vets Hall. Loomis, a California native, is an elegant performer of everything from the Great American Song Book to torch songs to swing tunes.

The Paso Robles Youth Arts Center (PRYAC) fundraiser, the third annual Backyard Jam, features a bevy of talented young performers playing Wednesday, May 31 (5 to 8 p.m.; $100 at eventbrite.com that includes one meal choice, two drinks, musical performances, desserts, and giveaways and prizes throughout the evening).

"We are so thrilled to be invited back to the Backyard on Thirteenth for the third annual Backyard Jam Benefit for the Paso Robles Youth Arts Center's free program," said Emily Jagger, PRYAC Development Director. "Current and alumni band students are already collaborating, singing, and writing lyrics together after school and work, and are set to perform to a sold-out audience, with plenty of standing ovations!"

The SLO Vocal Arts Ensemble presents their "Welcome to Summer" concert with shows on Thursday, June 1, at Nipomo's Trilogy at Monarch Dunes (7 p.m.) and again on Saturday, June 3, at Cuesta's Performing Arts Center (3 p.m.). Tickets, available at my805tix.com, are $30 general admission, $10 for children under 12 and students with ID. Expect "a fun selection of favorite classic and folk tunes to evoke warm summer reveries," according to organizers.

Time to buy Live Oak tickets!

I've got mine. Do you have yours? This year's Live Oak Music Festival promises to be a blast, and this year instead of Father's Day weekend, it's scheduled for the week after—Friday, June 23, through Sunday, June 25, at El Chorro Regional Park in SLO. Camp for the weekend or daytrip it, just be there.

Headliners include amazing indie singer-songwriter Neko Case, who's releasing a career-spanning retrospective album—Wild Creatures—on June 30. She plays opening night on June 23. On Saturday, which sold out last year so don't dally, famed roots reggae act and Bob Marley and the Wailers spinoff act The Wailers play June 24. Closing night on June 25, it's going to be a party with New Orleans funk jam act Galactic. With Anjelika "Jelly" Joseph on vocals, they're absolute monsters.

In between, you'll hear acts like alt-rock-Americana act Cracker and raucous string band Brothers Comatose on June 23; funk and soul act Diggin Dirt and African psyche rockers Orchestra Gold on June 24; and indie folk pop duo Wild Child and Afro-Mexican Americana powerhouse Las Cafeteras on June 25.

Visit liveoakfest.org for the complete schedule and to buy tickets. Can't afford tickets? Consider volunteering for this KCBX fundraiser. Δ

Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at [email protected].

Editor's note: This article has been edited to credit the photographer and music producer of Amalia Fleming.