Roots musician Amy Farris, 40

Published 5:00 am Friday, October 2, 2009

LOS ANGELES Fiddler, singer and songwriter Amy Farris, an in-demand session and touring musician who became a regular presence on the Los Angeles roots music scene after moving from Austin, Texas, to launch a solo career, has died. She was 40.

Her body was found in her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroners office said her death is being investigated as suicide, but the cause wont be known for four to six weeks.

A beautiful light went out its a horrible thing, said Exene Cervenka, a founding member of Los Angeles punk band X, whose new solo album features Farris on several tracks.

Farris, who had played on stage or recorded with musicians including Ray Price, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, met Cervenka in the 1980s.

She could do it all, said singer-songwriter-guitarist Dave Alvin. She was a great string arranger. She would multitrack the violin and viola and everything else, and suddenly youve got the L.A. Philharmonic behind you. She was brilliant on that.