Of all things, it was an Instagram ad that brought the nonprofit RiverJAM Music to Amanda Conti’s attention.

“I don’t know how I saw [the ad],” she explained. “And it was such funny timing because the night before, I just had a whole breakdown about the fact that I felt very disconnected from myself as a songwriter and a musician. I hadn’t written in a while, and it’s a big part of my identity. I was really upset over that. Then this ad popped up, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what this is, but I guess I’ll do it.’”

Being a songwriter, though, is only a fraction of how music integrates itself into Conti’s life. Regarding identity, she also works as a board-certified music therapist and neurologic music therapist, where she assists neurodivergent adults and kids, older adults, those in hospice, and other populations of people to find their own voice through music. 

“Music is a very connecting medium, so it’s a very fulfilling job,” she said. 

It’s also a job that unintentionally channels the lessons learned during mentorship sessions with RiverJAM. The mentorship program itself boasts a competitive and highly selective application process that includes both an audition and an interview. Once selected based on the quality of their existing work, performance expertise, and commitment to songwriting and music development, mentorees work with songwriting and industry experts to produce a catalog of high-quality, distribution-ready songs.

For Conti, her mentorship with Gordon Brown and Reagan Richards of Williams Honor serves as an opportunity to cultivate both her personal and professional life.

“In music therapy, I songwrite with people a lot, especially if I’m working with people with mental health challenges. I’m facilitating a lot of songwriting,” she said. “When I first met Gordon, and he asked what I did for a living, I was like, ‘Well, it’s kind of like this, but just not on this scale.’ So I definitely think, probably subconsciously, a lot of what I’ve learned from them has bled into that. I think I have been more confident in facilitating songwriting in my job, and probably using some of their insight that I’ve picked up on.”

Personally, the mentorship program doesn’t commodify a vulnerable process but rather supplements it. “[The RiverJAM mentorship program has] been phenomenal,” Conti gushed. “They are awesome people. They’re great. It’s been really interesting because my songwriting process is so personal to me. I don’t really have like a formula that I follow. Whenever I’ve written a song, it’s been guided by emotion, and it kind of just happens. But Reagan and Gordon are amazing. They’ve challenged me in ways that are really positive in terms of my wording choices and the meaning of things.” 

This balance of professional and personal, according to Conti, proves to be not the easiest, given the nature of her work. With RiverJAM, though, she remembers where her connection to music comes from.

“When [music] is your job—even though it’s a fun job and I love it—it’s easy to forget about why you chose it in the first place and your own connection,” she said. “I try my best to make time to at least play music. I don’t think I write as frequently, which is why I’m really grateful for RiverJAM because that sparked my writing back up again. I’m reminded in moments where I need the music, and I need to turn to it. That re-solidifies my relationship with it.”

The mentorship program also broadened Conti’s network of like-minded individuals. True to RiverJAM’s mission, the non-profit develops, supports, and promotes dedicated songwriters and facilitates industry connections.

“RiverJAM, in general, is just like a big community of musicians,” Conti elaborated. “Everybody is super generous. You walk into a room at an event, and you feel the energy. There’s a togetherness. It’s very, very nice.” 

Conti’s own music draws on her biggest influence, Sara Bareilles, though her musical foundations lie in classic rock that reflects her dad’s tastes. As she developed her own sense of what music means to her, iconic singer-songwriters such as Bareilles and even musical theater take the forefront in her style.

“I really, really connected with Sara Bareilles,” she recalls, when reminiscing on her divergence from inherited music taste to extrinsic. “She is my favorite songwriter. I would say she’s probably my biggest songwriting influence, but I do still pull from other things. I do love musical theater, and I have heard that there are some influences that trickle into my songs, which is cool because I’ve never actually done musical theater, but I love it. I try to pull from all the different things that inspire me that I like.”

After the mentorship program? Conti says that she plans to go with the flow, RiverJAM pun unintended. “I think definitely [the mentorship program] has sparked back some of my creativity and my drive to write music. I think if anything, I’ll definitely be writing more, and I think I’ll be taking what I’ve learned and seeing songwriting from a different perspective,” she mused. “I’m sure I’ll be writing more, but we’ll see what happens.” 

Featured image taken from Instagram/@amandacontimusic | Interviewed on March 11, 2026