D'Amato grew up in Blairstown, New Jersey, and attended college at Princeton University, where he developed an independent study on songwriting with the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon. His studies with Muldoon resulted in 'Down Wires,' an album he recorded his dorm room and released independently in 2010. NPR called his song "My Father's Son" a "modern folk gem"and The World Café featured him in their emerging artist series Next. D'Amato released another home recording, 'Paper Back Bones,' in 2012, which made BBC Scotland's Best Americana Albums of 2012 and was described by host Ricky Ross as "one of [our] favourites of all time." In support of his first two records, D'Amato toured in the US and Europe, sharing bills with everyone from Pete Yorn and Ben Kweller to Josh Ritter and Rhett Miller, in addition to a performance at the iconic Newport Folk Festival. In 2013, D'Amato signed with New West Records, home of Steve Earle and Patty Griffin among others. He recorded his new album, The Shipwreck From The Shore, at the Great North Sound Society in Maine with producer Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim) and members of Bon Iver and Megafaun. It will be released in the summer of 2014. D'Amato currently lives in New York City.