So it started quickly with a little 12 second fiddle piece called “Interlude” then went right into a rollicking Cajun song “Johnny Can’t Dance” again the great fiddle was that the artist playing that fiddle?? Yes, it was Amanda Shaw on her new album Good Southern Girl which debuted at 33 on the Americana Music Chart this week! And after that first song she had me. But then came “Meek Maids Reel” and I knew that this album was going to be something special! So I quickly went to Amada’s webpage and discovered that at 19 years old:
Amanda Shaw is a powerful performer, composer, and arranger who has been touring nationally and internationally since she was eight years old. She has recorded three critically-acclaimed albums, won a Big Easy Award for Best Female Entertainer and has even had two feature roles in Disney movies
This album is her introduction to the music world as an adult and I’m ready to welcome her and think that she has one helluva bright future! This is her fourth album (well she did appear with the Baton Rogue Symphony at age eight the youngest soloist ever so I guess you should have four albums by nineteen)and probably her strongest thanks to the Producer Trina Shoemaker, the first woman to win a Grammy for Best Engineered Album, which she earned for Sheryl Crow’s, The Globe Sessions. Trina says this about the album:
“This album is so great because you can hear creative freedom radiate through every second of its 42 minutes. Not many artists, or record producers for that matter, are given the keys to the studio so to speak. Poorman Mayfield provided the resources and let Amanda and I collaborate from there”, says Shoemaker.
and Gaynielle Neville says:
“…If you like high spirited Cajun Roots music, you’ll fall in love with our ‘Good Southern Girl,’ Amanda Shaw. We highly recommend making this CD a part of your music collection.”
Amanda’s fiddle playing stands out on almost every track some of which are covers like the playful and bluesy rendition of Sam Cooke’s” That’s It I Quit” And shes does Papa John Creach proud with a great version of “Git Fiddler” from Jefferson Starship’s album Red Octopus. One of my favorite tracks is “Blues de la Frontier” a traditional Cajun tune. That is a crowd favorite during her live performances. The album ends with the self-penned “Good Southern Girl”, which is another favorite!
Amanda is backed up by her band “The Cute Guys” who are:
Tim Robertson Guitar, Background Vocals
Ronnie Falgout Bass, Background Vocals
Mike Barras Drums
You can check her music out on her Myspace page
or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-Shaw
Here’s Amanda from a 2008 perfomance.! I’m tired just watching!
