Trading one beat for another, this former Baltimore journalist now sings her stories with Janis-meets-Joni vocals.
 

BIO (150 words):

For two decades, Heather Aubrey Lloyd’s performed anywhere that might make a good story; bait shops, biker weeks, even clothing-optional resorts - a recovering reporter whose love of the journey evolved into equally adventurous songwriting. Her “sing-me-the-phone-book” voice pairs with finger-picked guitar and hand percussion. Best known with Baltimore’s ilyAIMY, Lloyd’s gained national recognition as a Falcon Ridge Folk Fest Most-Wanted Artist and Top-4 Telluride Troubadour. In the DMV, she’s a Grand Prize Winner of the prestigious Bernard Ebb Award, the “Girlfunkel” in a wildly successful Simon & Garfunkel tribute, and even singing for Renaissance lute-rock rebels, Ayreheart, featuring Grammy-nominated Ronn McFarlane. Lloyd just released the “ambitious and unflinching” Panic Room With A View, “an alt-folk symphony, layering acoustic beauty with humor and hope,” says Amplify The Noise and MusicnGear. Expect a live performance that “sits with fear, grief, and even absurdity until they yield not just resolution, but transformation.”

YOU WANNA KNOW EVEN MORE!?!

Lloyd has been a Lilith Fair Talent Search Finalist and ilyAIMY is a repeat Best Contemporary Folk Group/Duo in the Washington Area Music Awards, among other honors. Lloyd’s solo collection of stories turned lyrics became her first solo studio effort, “A Message in the Mess” in 2017.  “Mess” received the Director's Award for Album of the Year from the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, and the awards haven't stopped since (along with spots as an opening act for the likes of Gretchen Peters and Gordon Lightfoot).

“Panic Room With A View,” Lloyd's second solo effort in the studio, featuring songs about mental health, the plight of refugees, and aging gracefully. She's once again teamed up with Joel Ackerson and his Reno bands, including The Novelists & Big Amygdala.

Lloyd met Reno-based pop-rock band, The Novelists, teaming for arrangements and instrumentation that mark a polished departure from her alt-folk grit with ilyAIMY. The result: Traditionally folk/acoustic instruments used in unorthodox ways that court jazz, indie, classical and rock. Lloyd's first solo album, “A Message in the Mess,” begins with the anthemic pop love song, “Ask For Me,” and passes through the funny glockenspiel/kazoo folk of “The Animal Crackers Song” to end up in the string arrangement of “Pollock” and grinding roots rock of “Phantom.” Through it all, Lloyd‘s dusky, sensual, intensely emotional voice tells her unusual stories. As her CD wrapped, The Novelists won a performance spot on Train’s Sail Across the Sun Cruise. LA-based David Peters of Oak House Recording also mixed/mastered both projects.

2018 Falcon Ridge Folk Fest Most-Wanted set.

2018 Acoustic Guitar Project DC Songwriter. Click to hear "My Scheherazade," a fantastical tale of suicide prevention.

She really did that! Shooting cover art for "A Message in the Mess."

PRESS/REVIEWS

For Press Inquiries, contact: 
Sarah J Frost PR, sjf@sarahjfrost.com
 

ALTERNATIVE ROOTS (full broadcast)
“One of my albums of the year.”
DJ Mike Davies

AMPLIFY THE NOISE (full article)
“Heather Aubrey Lloyd’s Panic Room With a View doesn’t just mark a return after years of pandemic pause, theft, and wildfire delays. It arrives as her most ambitious and unflinching work to date...It’s a record that insists on sitting with fear, grief, and even absurdity until they yield not just resolution, but transformation.”

MUSICnGEAR (full article - in which I get REALLY honest …)
“Panic Room With a View is a survival story disguised as an alt-folk symphony …layering acoustic beauty with humor, hope, and the occasional storm ... [Lloyd's] background as a journalist really shines … detailed, human, and full of observation.”

ALAN CACKETT (full article)
4.5 STARS  - “Finest proof of the enduring need for the album format … Heather Aubrey Lloyd is as confused and curious as ever before … But the beauty of it is Heather's willingness to ‘go there’ with each and every song … She reminds us why we trust music to help us make sense of a world crumbling around us, searching for bright spots and meaning among the rubble.”

THE OLD GREY CAT (full article)
“Her folky songs sport fleshed-out arrangements, while her lyrics feature a reporter’s eye for detail … Panic Room With a View is a wonderful album that—as I said up top—inadvertently spurred a yearning in me fora time when folk-flavored singer-songwriters were legion on the radio and in music clubs.”

AMERICANA UK (full article)
“Six years in the making, this is a powerful statement on recent times … ensconced in the panic room, the view is chilling and a little dark. Keep the door open, as it may be difficult to leave.”

***

"Not only are her individual songs great, the collective body of work that she has put out is impressive … And the way that she works at music like it matters … She brings a ferocity, an intensity … Let’s face it, if this was Salem she would have been burned at the stake." 

- Jay Keating, President, Songwriter's   Association of Washington 

***

"Sometimes an artist just needs to stretch her wings [and 'A Message in the Mess'] is so eclectic ... designed to showcase Lloyd's vocals, which remind you of Natalie Merchant in [her] prime. Seriously, 'The Animal Crackers Song' is freaking magical (are those kazoos and xylophones with a brass section?!?). The lyrics are delightful, and it will make you feel great - Put it on repeat." 

- Charm City Radio

"Her voice, which is elegantly controlled with a slight smokiness … is SO compelling that it might take a while before you become conscious of just how strong the songs are lyrically … an intimate presentation, as if she is performing just for the listener." 

- H. Stephen Patton, Driftwood Magazine

"Voices this hard-hitting don't come around often. Sing me the phone book - I'll ask for an encore." 

- Pat Wictor (Brother Sun)

"Lloyd's voice has a powerful emotional and technical range, using everything from a delicate whisper to a bluesy growl to breathe life into the folk narratives." 

- The Morning Call

"A pint-sized powerhouse of a singer."   

- The Washington Times

"Touching and emotionally raw."