Americana Music Website Design (Squarespace): Amanda Pearcy
Sometimes a new album doesn't simply call for a website update. It marks the beginning of an entirely new chapter.
Americana singer-songwriter Amanda Pearcy released her previous albums in 2013 and 2015. In the decade that followed, life changed, music continued quietly in the background, and eventually the songs for a new project began to emerge.
With Amanda preparing to release her first album in more than ten years, her online presence was due for a new beginning, too.
We moved her website to Squarespace for the first time and created an entirely new artist website inspired by the photography and visual world surrounding the upcoming album.
The result is a cinematic, image-driven website that reintroduces Amanda and her music while giving this next chapter of her career a modern digital home.
Moving an Artist Website to Squarespace
Unlike an album refresh where we're updating the look of an existing Squarespace site, Amanda's project gave us the opportunity to reconsider the website from the ground up.
Her previous website lived on another platform and reflected an earlier chapter of her career. With more than a decade separating her previous album releases from this one, simply changing a few images and colors wasn't going to tell the full story.
We moved Amanda's online presence to Squarespace and rebuilt the experience around what her career needs today.
That meant thinking beyond the aesthetics of a new album campaign and creating a foundation that can support new music, performances, video, email subscribers, and whatever comes next.
Designing Around Cinematic Album Photography
Amanda's new photography immediately established the direction for the website.
Much of it was shot in and around a vintage car against the expansive landscape of the Southwest. The images feel cinematic without feeling staged, quiet, atmospheric, a little weathered, and deeply connected to place.
That same quality exists in Amanda's music.
Her songwriting moves between Americana, folk, blues, gospel, roots, and country, with storytelling that critics have described as atmospheric and cinematic. Her songs are deeply personal and shaped by lived experience, but they never feel overly polished or manufactured.
The website needed to feel the same way.
Rather than introducing an unrelated visual style, we pulled the site's teal tones, warm desert neutrals, spacious layouts, and oversized typography from the world already present in the photography.
The result is a website where the imagery doesn't simply decorate the page, it establishes the atmosphere.
A Homepage That Reintroduces the Artist
When someone has been actively releasing music every year or two, a homepage can often begin with a simple "here's what's new."
Amanda's situation called for something different.
Her new album arrives after more than a decade between releases, making this website part album launch and part artist reintroduction.
The homepage opens with a striking image of Amanda alongside a simple statement that captures the heart of her work: Songs that feel lived rather than written.
From there, visitors are introduced to Amanda's story, the forthcoming album, upcoming performances, video, and an opportunity to join her email list.
The experience is intentionally uncluttered. Instead of trying to document an entire career above the fold, the homepage establishes who Amanda is now and invites visitors to explore from there.
Supporting a Return to Music
Amanda's upcoming album represents more than another release in a catalog.
After An Offering, Amanda stepped away from the intensive music scene because of family circumstances, but she never stopped writing.
Over the following years, songs accumulated. A pandemic-era recording, a spontaneous performance in Colorado, a move to Taos, intimate live shows, a monthly residency, and an open mic for original music gradually brought performance back into her life.
Now, those years of writing are becoming a new album.
The website was designed to support that return… giving longtime listeners a place to reconnect while introducing Amanda to people discovering her work for the first time.
As singles and additional album information become available, the site can evolve alongside the release without needing another redesign.
Telling a Story Without Telling All of It
Amanda has an incredible story, but good website design doesn't mean putting every detail on the homepage.
Her life and career include loss, motherhood, Texas, Austin's music community, critical acclaim, years away from the industry, a move to Taos, and an eventual return to performing and recording.
That depth belongs on the website, but it also needs hierarchy.
The homepage provides enough context to establish Amanda's identity and significance as an artist, while the full About page gives visitors who want to know more the opportunity to experience the larger story.
This balance keeps the homepage accessible while preserving the richness that makes Amanda's work so distinctive.
Connecting Music and Place
Place is woven throughout Amanda's story, so it naturally became part of the visual language of the website.
Born in Houston and shaped musically by Austin, Amanda now lives in Taos, New Mexico, where the high desert landscape has become part of this chapter of her creative life.
The new photography gave us an opportunity to incorporate that landscape throughout the website without turning the design into an obvious Southwestern theme.
Desert imagery appears subtly behind sections and within transitions. Muted natural tones balance the deep teal pulled from the hero photography. Road imagery carries the visual story through the bottom of the homepage.
The result feels connected to Taos and the Southwest while remaining first and foremost an artist website.
Music, Shows & Video
A musician website still has important practical jobs to do.
Visitors need clear paths to listen to music, learn about the upcoming album, see where Amanda is performing, watch video, and stay connected.
Those elements are incorporated throughout the site without competing with the storytelling and imagery.
As Amanda begins performing more regularly and the album campaign progresses, the same structure can accommodate additional shows, singles, videos, and release information.
Building an Audience Beyond Social Media
After an extended period between releases, reconnecting with an audience is especially important.
That's why Amanda's email signup is given prominent placement directly on the homepage.
Social platforms are valuable tools for discovery, but an artist's website and email list create something different: a digital home and an audience the artist can communicate with directly.
As Amanda releases new music and returns to performing, the website gives listeners a central place to follow what happens next.
Mobile Website Design
Music discovery increasingly happens on a phone.
Someone might encounter Amanda through a song, social media post, YouTube video, concert listing, press feature, or recommendation and immediately tap through to her website.
The site was designed responsively so the cinematic quality of the imagery carries into the mobile experience while music, show information, album updates, and email signup remain easy to access.
Built on Squarespace
As a Squarespace Authorized Trainer, Squarespace Expert, and Squarespace Circle Member, I work with musicians at many different stages of their careers—including artists who are ready to leave an older website platform behind.
For Amanda, moving to Squarespace created an opportunity to do more than recreate what she already had.
We built a new foundation.
Her website can now evolve alongside the upcoming album, new performances, video, and future releases while remaining straightforward to manage behind the scenes.
A platform migration can be a practical decision, but it's also an opportunity to ask a bigger question: Does the website you're bringing with you still represent where you're going?
In Amanda's case, the answer was to start this chapter with something new.
Website Features Included
Custom Squarespace website design for Americana musician
Website platform migration (Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com)
New album release promotion
Artist biography and storytelling
Custom styling inspired by album photography
Music and streaming content
Upcoming shows and calendar (Squarespace Calendar: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206543837-Calendar-pages)
Video integration (YouTube)
Email list signup (Squarespace)
Mobile-responsive design
Search engine optimization (SEO) foundations
Ready for a New Chapter Online?
Maybe you're preparing to release new music after years away. Maybe your career has evolved while your website hasn't. Or maybe you're still relying on a website built on a platform that no longer fits what you need.
You don't have to carry an outdated online presence into your next chapter.
I design custom Squarespace websites for musicians and creatives that bring together your story, imagery, music, and current work—while creating a flexible foundation for whatever comes next. If you're ready for a custom Squarespace website that tells your story and gives visitors a place to truly connect with your work, we’d love to help.
About the Designer
Hi, I'm Katherine Forbes, founder of Designing the Row. I'm a Squarespace Authorized Trainer, Squarespace Expert, and Squarespace Circle Member who has designed more than 300 custom Squarespace websites for musicians, authors, nonprofits, speakers, businesses, and other creatives.
With Amanda preparing to release her first album in more than ten years, her online presence was due for a new beginning, too. The result is a cinematic, image-driven website that reintroduces Amanda and her music while giving this next chapter of her career a modern digital home.