Husky-voiced Amanda Marshall performs March 17 at the Vogue and March 18 at the Orpheum Theatre in support of her third CD, Everybody's Got a Story.
Amanda Marshall pens a new story
By Shawn Conner
Amanda Marshall is keepin' it real. The animated 27-year-old, curled up on a couch on the top floor of the Sheraton, is talking about working with an honest-to-God Brooklyn DJ, Molecules, for a street credible sound on her new album, Everybody's Got a Story.
"I wanted to make something based around groove, but I didn't want it to be a watered-down white rock radio version, or some Southern California engineer's version of what it should sound like," says Marshall, dressed in a stylishly bohemian ensemble of gray beret, jean jacket, beaded tie, white shirt, purple stovepipe pants and pristine sneakers.
"I wanted it to sound like what that guy listens to in his truck in Brooklyn, I wanted it to sound like the kick-drum was supposed to sound, so that Molecules and his friends could listen to this record and say, 'They got the bottom-end right.'"
Marshall can afford as much street credibility as she wants. Born and raised in Toronto, the half-Trinidadian singer exercised her voice at the Toronto Royal Conservatory and later discovered a fondness for jazz. A club debut showcased her far-ranging, hair-raisingly husky voice, which led to more shows and, eventually, opening slots on tours with Jeff Healey and Tom Cochrane. Recorded when she was barely out of her teens, her self-titled debut went on to multiplatinum success in Canada, as did the follow-up Tuesday's Child.
"[My first two records] are representative of where I was at those particular times," says Marshall, who performs at the Vogue March 17 and at the Orpheum March 18. "This record came after a substantial break, and I really wanted to step out a little bit. The question was, 'how do I take what I've done and move forward with that, and represent a broader spectrum of my personality?' Those records are one or two aspects of my personality. I have a sense of humour, and I made two fairly-not humourless-but straightahead serious rock records."
For Everybody's Got a Story she holed up in a recording studio with former Linda Ronstadt producer Peter Asher and songwriter Billy Mann.
"Billy's a punk," says Marshall, clearly confused over the distinction between someone who would find her commercially accessible music abhorrent and someone paid to make same. "I knew Peter through the label, and I met him first. He always intrigued me-he had great stories and he's a very captivating guy to watch. He introduced me to Billy and we wrote three songs together immediately. For Peter, [making the album] was exciting because it was a modern-sounding record with a classic feel. His experience and attention to detail freed Billy and I up to be idiots and try different things."
Though burdened with a surplus of uninspired, generic material, Everybody's Got a Story does have a couple of songs to recommend it. The title track is a sassy pop tune offering advice about not judging a book by its cover or, in Marshall's case, the diva by her image. The album's other strong track is "Sunday Morning After," a salty number about not remembering what you said the night before, or the name of the person sleeping next to you.
"We had been in the studio for about 18 hours and were really punchy and basically we were just trying to make each other laugh," recalls Marshall. "We got to the chorus, and I had the verse melody and Billy had the chorus melody. And I thought, 'She has to wake up with a tattoo,' and then came up with 'and I think my tongue's pierced too' and we were searching for an 'ooh' rhyme and then I said, 'And who the hell are you?' and that became the chorus."
The song, which features the line, "Tequila was my claim to fame," is not autobiographical, however. For one thing, the bronze-tressed singer is in a relationship with musician Rob Misener, with whom she wrote the Everybody's ballad "Marry Me." For another, Marshall claims, "I've never had a shot of tequila. I don't drink. But I've been to enough after-show parties to know what I'm talking about."