BIO
"I was walking around the pearl district and noticed a whole congregation of people walking towards this sound, then there you were, this tiny little thing with a giant guitar and a box full of cash! I thought, I need to meet this girl, who is she?!"
- Brian McFayden , KGW interview 2017
Amber's seamless co-ordination of right and left hand picking, producing sometimes three or four easily discerned contrapuntal lines, evinces years of dedicated practice to create unique, highly imaginative music that never veers into wild flash for its own sake, but rivals musicians like Leo Kottke and Maria Kalaniemi for comfortably invigorating brilliance.
- David Wright, retired violinist with Minnesota Orchestra
2017 THOMAS LEEB PERCUSSIVE GUITAR BOOTCAMP
Amber performing her original
song "Battle for the Innocent" at KGW in Portland Oregon. June 20th 2017
Riffwars Hall of Fame
2015 Best female original artist
First Female to compete in the Canadian Guitar Festival 2017
Fingerstyle guitar course with over 30 lessons though Jamplay.com
Performed with Fingerstyle guitarists such as Kaki King, Spenser Elliot, Adrian Bellue and Nick Johnson.
Performed at the 2020 International Women of Fingerstyle event at the House of Blues in Anaheim California.
Portland Based Fingerstyle guitarist Amber Russell, has had a diverse platform of musical outlets during her 20 years of composing music. She grew up in her midwest hometown of Elkhart, Indiana.
In the summer of 2012 she relocated to Los Angeles and continued her journey as a singer songwriter with her band Seropolar. Soon after that, she found a profound interest in Fingerstyle guitar. Admiring Fingerstyle guitarists such as Antoine Dufour, Andy Mckee, Erik Mongrain, Kaki King, Preston Reed and many more.
Amber has remained relevant and active in the Fingerstyle community since 2014 by participating in functions such as the Canadian Guitar festival, Thomas Leeb Percussive guitar bootcamp, Fretmonkey Guitar Collective and attends the NAMM Show convention every year. Her solo acoustic music didn't take off until she relocated to
Portland, Oregon. A city calm and
collect, yet outrageous and weird enough to find the appropriate audience for her unique and eclectic sound. Amber has a 30 lesson guitar course available through Jamplay.com that was released November 1st 2018 and has reached an even larger audience of students. She currently resides in Portland and is a Percussive fingerstyle teacher and Co-Founder at Rose City Guitar Company with her wife Samantha Russell. The school has been extremely successful since it began in 2020, bringing in guest instructors in the fingerstyle community such as Yasmin Williams and Adrian Bellue.