INTERVIEW: Amanda Shaw still keeping it fun with new EP
Amanda Shaw, fiddle player and singer, is all about having fun. When she’s performing on stage, like she did at last year’s Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest in New Jersey, she’s determined that the audience dance along to the hummable roots music she pumps out with her stellar band, the Cute Guys. She grabs the fiddle and embraces its potential and induces many a tapping toe.
“That’s my number one thing is I want to have fun with anything that I do, and we are working really hard,” Shaw said in a recent phone interview. “I’ve been really busy writing music. I love writing music, and lately I’ve just been feeling really creative. I’ve been getting to do a lot of really fun sessions and things and getting to work with some really fun and cool people, and I can’t wait until everyone can see the final product of that work.”
Evidence of Shaw’s devotion to all things fun can be found on her Facebook and Instagram accounts. Although she has a bit of a confession: “I realized the other day I’m that girl. Like my whole Instagram is dog and food.”
Shaw is a Louisiana native who grew up listening to many different kinds of music. On her website, she counts Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Shania Twain as influences, and after a listen to her danceable tunes, it becomes clear that she brings the dancehall to any venue she’s playing. Fans can check out her musicianship at this year’s French Quarter Fest; she’s scheduled to play the Chevron Cajun/Zydeco Showcase Friday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m.
“I truly, truly love music,” she said. “I literally have really great memories of being like 10 years old and just literally sitting in my living room listening to Billie Holiday and Etta James, loving the soulfulness of their voices, and then at the same time, the Faces and the Rolling Stones are, to me, two of the best rock bands ever. So I love such a wide variety of music, and being able to play a lot of different kinds of venues gives me the opportunity to be able to play my music in different ways. … Like a couple of weeks ago, I played at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and so the way I present the music and just the way I play it is going to be different. And as an artist, you can’t ask for anything better than to live a life where you’re constantly being challenged, and your career is asking different things out of you.”
Shaw remembers the day she became a lifelong devotee of music. She was 4 years old and watching TV. There was a program on about orchestra music, and they showcased the violin. The young Shaw turned to her mother and said she wanted to play that instrument.
“My parents don’t play music or anything like that, and I’m fortunate enough that I have a mom that has always been like, ‘OK, Amanda, let’s go do it,'” she said. “We lived in Hammond, Louisiana, at the time, and she took me to Southeastern [University]. And I started taking lessons there from a student teacher for a couple of weeks, and ultimately my teacher ended up being the head of the string department there. … He’s a great violinist in Russia, and he was my teacher for a really long time and taught me. I took classical lessons, so I learned a lot of really great techniques. It’s just the base and the root of all the things that I do now today, even though I don’t consistently practice classical music anymore. That base and that foundation in my music education still serves me.”
Today, Shaw makes the festival circuit and brings her music to many different areas of the world. Whether it’s a European tour or a series of gigs in Brazil, the singer has become one of the most accomplished Cajun fiddle players in the business.
“I still have some days where I’m like, oh yeah, this is my life,” she said. “My life has really taken me to some really great places, and I’ve had some really wonderful opportunities come to me. I’ve been able to travel. I’ve been able to tour in Europe, and I’ve been able to tour in Brazil and all over the United States here. And to be able to share my music, like I said, I think I still have trouble some days pinching myself and realizing, oh yeah, like this is life. This is real. This is pretty cool.”
Her albums over the years have included Little Black Dog, I’m Not a Bubblegum Princess, Pretty Runs Out and Good Southern Girl. Her new self-titled EP features such songs as “Crazy ‘Bout My Boy,” “Busy Body,” “Adieu Rosa” and “Red Plastic Cup.” Official music videos have recently debuted.
Many of Shaw’s goals have been accomplished, and many more are on the horizon.
“I think sometimes it’s easy to be like, oh, I’m going to have this goal five years from now, and then you end up living where you get so caught up in the details of trying to get to that place that you forget to enjoy it,” she said. “I’ve definitely been there before where I’ve gotten so caught up in these goals and these things that I didn’t really enjoy the moment that I was in, and I certainly don’t like that. At the same time, you don’t want to just whimsically go along. Our industry is incredibly competitive. There’s people that are thousands and thousands times more talented than me that I’m having to compete with for jobs and things like that, and I’m grateful for that opportunity to be able to work hard up against those people. I feel it’s important to keep a little bit of both. It’s OK to have some goals, but it’s also important to really enjoy every moment. And that’s something I really try to practice every day is just enjoying whatever my day brings, and that is the beauty of my job is that every day is different. Every day I get to create something new.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Amanda Shaw will play this year’s French Quarter Fest. She’s scheduled to play the Chevron Cajun/Zydeco Showcase Friday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. Click here for more information.
