A Maine native who is an in-demand songwriter for major pop stars was nominated this year for the first-ever songwriter of the year Grammy Award.
Amy Allen, who grew up in Windham and later lived in South Portland, received her first Grammy nomination Tuesday, in the brand-new field of songwriter of the year, non-classical. She’s joined by fellow nominees Nija Charles, Tobias Jesso Jr., The-Dream and Laura Veltz.
Allen has for the past five years written songs for some of the biggest names in pop music, including Harry Styles, Lizzo, Halsey, Selena Gomez and Shawn Mendes. The new songwriter of the year category honors a writer’s body of work in the past year. Among Allen’s notable songwriter credits this year are Harry Styles’ “Matilda,” off his multiplatinum album “Harry’s House”; “If You Love Me,” off Lizzo’s summertime hit “Special”; “Heartbeat,” by Shawn Mendes; and “Move Me” by Charli XCX.
In an Instagram post, Allen expressed her gratitude for the nomination, and thanked her family.
“Unbelievably grateful and at a loss for words, but I love my family for pushing me to follow my dreams,” she said Tuesday.
Allen attended the Waynflete School in Portland, where she graduated in 2010, and later attended Boston College and Berklee College of Music. A talented musician from a young age, as a child she performed around southern Maine with her parents’ band, the longtime Maine bluegrass band the Jerks of Grass, and later formed her own band, Amy and the Engine, which performed around New England.
In 2017, Allen relocated to Los Angeles, and quickly began writing songs and producing music for other artists, beginning with Selena Gomez’s album “Back To You,” and Halsey’s 2018 No. 1 hit “Without Me.” In 2019, she co-wrote Harry Styles’ chart-topping single “Adore You,” the second single off his album “Fine Line.” She is signed with Warner Music.
Other Mainers nominated for Grammys on Tuesday include Adam Ayan and Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering in Portland, who were nominated for their work on “Chloe and the Next 20th Century” by Father John Misty and the 20th-anniversary edition of Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” respectively.
Longtime Maine songwriter and frontman of Rustic Overtones Dave Gutter also received his first Grammy nomination, for co-writing the song “Stompin’ Around” by Aaron Neville and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which was nominated for Best American Roots Performance.
