Beginning in the early 2010s as the home-recorded singer-and-ukulele project of songwriter Amy Oelsner, Amy O expanded into a full-fledged indie rock band with the hooky guitar pop of 2016's Arrow. Delivering thoughtful observations of the everyday with a sweet-natured pop punk, subsequent albums included 2019's Shell, Amy O's third outing with collaborators. A self-taught guitarist, Oelsner started writing songs while growing up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. College and work eventually took her to Ohio, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, and then Bloomington, Indiana. All the while, she continued her practice of writing, recording, and self-releasing albums under the name Amy O, including the 2012 series Songs from January (released in February 2012), Songs from April, Songs from July, and Songs from October (issued in April 2013). Released in June 2014, My Hand the Thief was her last album to be entirely self-made. By then based in Bloomington and signed to Let's Pretend Records, Amy O's 2016 full-length, Arrow, was recorded with guests on bass, drums, and additional guitar, engineered and mixed by Patrick Jennings, and mastered by Russian Recording's Mike Bridavsky. Bridavsky returned to produce Amy O's next album and label debut for Winspear. Arriving in August 2017, Elastic featured Oelsner with Damion Schiralli on lead guitar, Aaron Denton on keyboards, Madeline Robinson on bass, and Justin Vollmar on drums. With Jon Meador (Saintseneca) replacing Denton on keys, and Justin Vollmar moving to bass to make room for Nathan Vollmar on drums, Shell followed in 2019, also on Winspear. ~ Marcy Donelson