Aimee Hoyt

A patchwork quilt is such a fitting metaphor for music. Folks I’ve met along the way, forgotten towns that have filled my tank, the dusty roads that wind into the desert’s secret places, smoky ridgelines I ached to climb—they’re all patches on the quilt I sew together the only way I know how—with words and a melody.
My family hails from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and I’ve hoarded the patches they’ve passed down to me. They’re faded now and worn around the edges. My new family, the two I deem most dear in the world, are the patches I can’t help but look at every day. I admire and caress them. Just regarding their vibrancy makes my throat lump up and my eyes turn to water and salt. I sew these patches on my quilt most carefully of all.
Sometimes I look at my quilt and the stitches wind like a road map. I hear the sweet Southern serenades of my youth as they mix and mingle with the open skyline of the Southwest. The barbecue grease I wipe from my fingers blends with the juice from the green chile we roasted in the cool September night. They smear together and to one another whisper sweet compliments.
There are patches shaped like mountains that call to me with the scent of the rain. Patches so familiar they feel like old friends I miss dearly. Patches that are rigid and stiff, but clamber for the comfort of the quilt despite their newness. Brilliant patches, plain patches, patches that itch and chafe and soothe and sustain and make up the quilt that is my life, my stories, and my music.
DIRT ROAD DREAMER available now! Produced by Sally Van Meter and featuring Matt Flinner, Gabe Witcher, John Magnie, Mollie O'Brien, Eric Thorin, Eben Grace, Nick Forster, Andy and Cheryl Winston, Christian Teele, Jen Gilleran, and Lucy Moore. Sincere lyrics and a genuine delivery that dig in deep.