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Keynote Speaker: Joan Armatrading 


“Joan Armatrading is a very important, ground breaking, multi award winning artist and we are absolutely thrilled and honoured to announce her as the keynote speaker at our conference in January 2020” Stevie Freeman CEO AMA-UK

Ahead of her time and not one to fit into traditional genre stereotypes, Joan Armatrading MBE's near 50-year career spans multiple genres from rock to jazz to blues, winning an Ivor Novello Award and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in recognition of her, "influence on a generation of singer-songwriters [as] one of the outstanding voices in British music since the 1970s". This outstanding voice and song writing also earning her two Brit and three Grammy nominations, including title of the first female UK artist to be nominated in the Grammy Blues category.

Born in St Kitts on December 9th 1950 and moving to England when she was seven, Joan took her first musical steps on her mother's piano. Although her father had a guitar it was strictly out of bounds so when Joan saw one for £3 in a pawn shop she bought it.  Joan soon taught herself to play and began writing her own songs at the age of 14.  Joan Armatrading has released 19 studio albums during the incredible career spanning over 46 years - The Americana Music Association UK could not be more proud to have her as the keynote speaker at our annual conference  for 2020

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