Heather Aubrey Lloyd

Heather Aubrey Lloyd is a recovering reporter, performance poet and fairy tale collector turned songwriter. She has co-fronted Baltimore’s ilyAIMY for nearly two decades. Traveling the country playing everything from bait shops to clothing-optional resorts, Lloyd’s lyrical collection of stories became her first solo studio effort, A Message in the Mess. Populated by Hippie Tooth Faeries and Jackson Pollock reincarnated as a flock of scatological pigeons, each narrative is offered up in her passionate, “sing-me-the-phone-book” alto. Her finger-picked guitar says folk. Her lyrics show the influence of Baltimore’s slam poetry scene. Her hand percussion says world music. “Janis Joplin … and Joni Mitchell blended together,” says The Montgomery Caller. With its inventive arrangements and delightfully bizarre percussion (yes, that really is recorded bubble wrap), Mess received the Director’s Award for Album of the Year from the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, and the awards haven’t stopped since: 2018 No Depression Magazine Songwriting Award Finalist, 2018 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Most Wanted Artist, 2018 National Women’s Music Festival Emerging Artist, 2017 Telluride Troubadour Top 4. She is also the reigning Grand Prize winner of the prestigious Bernard Ebb Songwriting Award. While the current socially distanced climate has cancelled most of her live shows, Lloyd is planning to release new music in 2021, featuring songs about mental health, the plight of refugees, and aging gracefully.

Previously, Lloyd has been a Lilith Fair Talent Search Finalist. ilyAIMY is the 3-year-reigning Best Contemporary Folk Group/Duo at the Washington Area Music Awards and a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Most Wanted Winner, among other honors. And speaking of honors, we’re honored to introduce her on Streaming Tuesday to the Folk Project and our internet fans.