Amanda Wells offers up a little First Friday folk

It's not surprising that Amanda Wells picked up a guitar and started writing songs.

She grew up surrounded by music, but she didn't take up with the guitar straight out of the gate.

"Every girl picks up the flute, but I was terrible at it," said Wells, who will appear at Millersville University-Lancaster, 42 N. Prince St., during First Friday, the city's monthly arts and music blowout. The next First Friday kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5.

"When I was 10, my parents got me a drum set, much to their regret," recalled Wells, 27, who lives downtown with her husband, musician Robb Grave.

Wells grew up in a lively household with seven half brothers and one half sister. Her late father worked in carpentry and construction; her mother had a full-time job running the home. Neither parent was a professional artist, per se, but they were "very creative. … They definitely encouraged me."

One day, her dad retrieved a guitar from the trash at a construction site and handed it to her. The instrument wasn't in the best shape, but the deal was, if she could master the guitar, her parents would get her a new one.

Wells fondly recalled wanting to be Dolly Parton. Today, her influences include Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake, among others. Her style, she said, is deeply rooted in folk, and she describes her music as "modern folk."

Her songs, she said, are observational.

"I'm a people watcher. I put myself in their shoes and see how they feel, and then I write."

But there's a deeply personal side to Wells' musical craft as well. It shows in her 2005 album "Sigh of Relief," which was self-produced "very crudely, recorded in my dining room," Wells said.

A more professional — and no less heartfelt — effort followed in Wells' first officially recorded album, "Ebb and Flow," released in October 2010.

The album's themes are a mix of longing, loss and comfort; one track, "The Key Of," links artist and instrument, paying homage to her guitar with such words as "Take this chord and step it up through the key/ Of learning how to/ Breathe again."

It's a chord — to borrow from the lyrics — that should resonate with First Friday strollers. And Wells will indeed get to experience "ebb and flow" during her free performance in the Lyet Lobby of Millersville University's city center, the former Pennsylvania Academy of Music.

"I think it's really cool that they are doing this," Wells said of First Friday. It's her first time playing the event.

"That whole area of town … brings in a lot of people. I call it an 'art trap,' " she said.

"There are so many things that catch you and draw you in."

For more information about First Friday, which runs from 5-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5, in and around downtown Lancaster, call 509-2787 or visit lancasterarts.com.