Amanda Marshall wails on

November 25, 1996.

Amanda Marshall wails on

By MIKE ROSS

Edmonton Sun

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For a woman so green to the ways of recording artists, Amanda Marshall has filled the role seamlessly.

After being signed by Sony Music last year on the strength of her reputation as a fiery bar-room singer, the 24-year-old performer was asked by the president of the record company what kind of record she wanted to make, to which she replied, "I don't know."

But Sony knew what to do. With the input of heavyweight songwriters like MuchMusic-VJ-turned-Alannah Myles-svengali Christopher Ward, a self-titled album smack in the middle of the road between pop and rock resulted, and the lead single Let It Rain burned up the airwaves across the country. Whether Marshall was groomed for success by outside forces or not, the album is a hit (at least 100,000 copies sold in Canada), and the singer has since thrown herself into the task of promoting it like a seasoned veteran. She plays the Thunderdome tonight.

`HAD A REALLY GOOD TIME'

"We've had a really good run so far," she says. "We've been on the road now for 10 months, and we've had a really, really good time. We've done pretty much everything we've set out to do. For me, it was a chance to get out and tour and let people see what we do, and basically, see the world. We've done that, with the exception of Japan, which is where we're heading to next."

The irony here is that her live performing - which Marshall's been honing about six times longer than she's been a recording artist - don't match her album at all. It's like hearing two different artists: Dr. Jekyll on record, Miss Wail-My-Guts-Out on stage.

"I want people to walk away with a more intimate knowledge of me as a performer," she says. "You can do stuff in a live setting that you can't do on record.

"Everybody knows that at a quarter to one on a Friday night, you can get away with stuff that you couldn't really get away with in a recorded setting. I love those moments, those sweaty, middle-of-the-night kind of moments where you can do stuff that no one's really going to want to listen to on a Monday morning."

ROASTED BY REVIEWERS

What's most remarkable is how Marshall's been handling criticism. She's been roasted by reviewers on more than one occasion, at one point getting compared to Skid Row laughing-stock Sebastian Bach - something that could wither a weaker ego.

But negative reviews just don't seem to affect Marshall - she ignores them.

"I don't read any of the press," she says. "I tried to read them, good and bad, and I just discovered you just get tired about reading about yourself all the time. I've told the same stories and talked to half the world in the last 10 months - and I know all this stuff now."

Tickets to tonight's concert, also featuring warm-up act Wendy Lands, are $15 and available at the Thunderdome (433-DOME).


	November 25, 1996. Amanda Marshall wails on By MIKE ROSS Edmonton Sun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a woman so green to the ways of recording artists, Amanda Marshall has filled the role seamlessly. After being signed by Sony Music last year on the strength of her reputation as a fiery bar-room singer, the 24-year-old performer was asked by the president of the record company what kind of record she wanted to make, to which she replied, "I don't know." But Sony knew what to do. With the input of heavyweight songwriters like MuchMusic-VJ-turned-Alannah Myles-svengali Christopher Ward, a self-titled album smack in the middle of the road between pop and rock resulted, and the lead single Let It Rain burned up the airwaves across the country. Whether Marshall was groomed for success by outside forces or not, the album is a hit (at least 100,000 copies sold in Canada), and the singer has since thrown herself into the task of promoting it like a seasoned veteran. She plays the Thunderdome tonight. `HAD A REALLY GOOD TIME' "We've had a really good run so far," she says. "We've been on the road now for 10 months, and we've had a really, really good time. We've done pretty much everything we've set out to do. For me, it was a chance to get out and tour and let people see what we do, and basically, see the world. We've done that, with the exception of Japan, which is where we're heading to next." The irony here is that her live performing - which Marshall's been honing about six times longer than she's been a recording artist - don't match her album at all. It's like hearing two different artists: Dr. Jekyll on record, Miss Wail-My-Guts-Out on stage. "I want people to walk away with a more intimate knowledge of me as a performer," she says. "You can do stuff in a live setting that you can't do on record. "Everybody knows that at a quarter to one on a Friday night, you can get away with stuff that you couldn't really get away with in a recorded setting. I love those moments, those sweaty, middle-of-the-night kind of moments where you can do stuff that no one's really going to want to listen to on a Monday morning." ROASTED BY REVIEWERS What's most remarkable is how Marshall's been handling criticism. She's been roasted by reviewers on more than one occasion, at one point getting compared to Skid Row laughing-stock Sebastian Bach - something that could wither a weaker ego. But negative reviews just don't seem to affect Marshall - she ignores them. "I don't read any of the press," she says. "I tried to read them, good and bad, and I just discovered you just get tired about reading about yourself all the time. I've told the same stories and talked to half the world in the last 10 months - and I know all this stuff now." Tickets to tonight's concert, also featuring warm-up act Wendy Lands, are $15 and available at the Thunderdome (433-DOME).