BIOGRAPHY
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October 28th 2001
Amanda Marshall "came into the world by the setting sun on a humid summer night" as the one and only child of Doug and Gencie Marshall on August 29, 1972....................................
Born Tuesday, August 29, 1972Born and raised in Canada's largest city: Toronto, Ontario, CanadaParents enrolled Amanda at the age of 3 into Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, where she stayed until her teens.Amanda discovered jazz when introduced to it by a friend at the age of 15. Her interest was fuelled in the music after a backstage meeting with the legendary Ella Fitzgerald at a concert.Amanda was always involved in everything muscially as she could be- actively participating in everything from musical theatre productions to standing up singing in front of her high school's 1,000+ student population. Amanda attended the University of Toronto, enrolled in an English program for night school. At the young age of 17, Amanda was introduced into the "music world". A friend and Amanda had purchased tickets to a Jeff Healey concert, and were lucky enough to also have backstage passes. Upon meeting Jeff Healey, Amanda expressed her interest in music and her desire to someday do something with that interest. Jeff asked Amanda to sing a couple of tunes, and, immediately impressed, volunteered for her to join him at a local bar the next night, who would be having and "open mic" night (It was also Jeff's birthday that night in case ya wanted to know). Amanda, thrilled, brought her dad down to the bar that next night (as she was only 17), and sang several songs, with Jeff accompanying her on the guitar. Well, lucky for us, Jeff saw the talent Amanda had, and helped her out big time. He suggested to Amanda that she round up several musicians in the Toronto area, and begin playing the bar scene. Amanda had such success, and within months she had a band together and began doing just what Jeff suggested. "At the end of the set, he approached me and said, 'You know you're really very good. If you're serious, and if this is really what you want to do... Here's what you should do: There is a vast collection of musicians who live in Toronto. (It's a small community, but there is a large number of people at the same time) You should start pulling from that community, a group of musicians that you want to play with. Pick 15 of your favorite songs, put together a little repertoire, and start playing. There's a whole big collection of clubs in Toronto and just start playing those small clubs and that will help you get your bearings.'" Well, even after such little experience, Jeff offered Amanda the opening slot on his cross country tour. "Jeff offered me an opening slot on his national tour that was going across Canada and down into the United States. I went out with him and the next thing I knew with no record or record deal, I was singing in front of thousands of people every night, and it was huge deal. Fortunately for me at that point, I didn't really realize what a big deal it was, so I wasn't intimidated. It was still fun for me. That's how I got started. About six months later I got a record deal and I started making a record." So, the album "Amanda Marshall" got under way after she was signed to Sony Music Canada, with Amanda only 22 years old.
The first single from the album was "Let it rain" which shot up the charts The album proved to be a hit- spawning 7 singles , all of which made it to the top ten in Canada: Let it rain, Birmingham, Fall from grace, Dark horse, Beautiful goodbye, Sitting on top of the world, and Trust me (this is love)Leanne Rhimes and Mila Mason covered the hits "Sitting on top of the world" and "Dark Horse", respectivelyThe next big shocker for Amanda was when she woke up one morning to the hysterias of her mother on the phone... Elton John was on The Rosie O'Donnell show, saying that his current favorite album was none other than hers. Elton complimented Amanda, and what could the show do (and the rest of the world) but take note? The producers of the show quickly scrambled together to sign up Amanda to be on the show. (This is roughly quoted) Amanda woke up that morning at about 6 to the ringing of the phone, it was her mother, and she was ecstatically saying that Elton John was on tv talking about her, and why wasn't she watching? Amanda had just gotten back from Japan, and was really surprised at the information. She said it was flattering and just something that you couldn't predict.Elton had picked up her album by chance at the import bins in an HMV in London, and really liked it, saying that "Dark Horse" was his favorite.Well, Amanda did appear on the Rosie O'Donnell show, she sang a song (not sure which one) and did an interview with Rosie. That day she sold 10,000 copies of her album."Rosie is amazing. She's one of the few talk show hosts who really is a music fan. She has people on her show because she really digs their records, and she's great to talk to. I loved doing the show. "Amanda has been known to pick up a guitar on the songs "Sitting on top of the world" and "Last exit to Eden"Has appeared on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show", "The David Letterman Show", "Regis and Kathy Lee", "Canada AM", "The Mike Bullard Show", "The Dini Petty show", and "The Vicki Gaberau Show"Amanda has had such complimentors as Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John, and John Mellencamp.Chantal Kreviazuk, the Philosopher Kings, and Roberta Michelle have opened for Amanda's showsAmanda has opened for : Jeff Healey, Tom Cochrane, Colin James, John Mellencamp, Whitney Houston, and has also appeared alongside Tears for Fears and Simply Red.While on tour with John Mellencamp, Amanda was known to accompany John for the encore "Pink houses""Tuesday's Child" was released in 1999 to rave successes. It so far has created five singles: Believe in you, Love lift me, Why don't you love me, If I didn't have you, and Shades of grey, all of which have done very well.Even though "Tuesday's Child" may not seem quite different from the first album, it really is. Amanda co-wrote 12 of the thirteen songs, which opened up many doors for her.Most of Tuesday's Child was written with Eric Bazilian (Joan Osborne, the Hooters) at his home base in Philidelphia. Amanda flew down there on recommendation from a friend, to see if they would hit it off and could possibly write songs together. After attending a Rolling Stones concert, they decided they very well could get along, and Tuesday's Child was in the making...Expecting only to stay 4 days, Amanda instead found herself in the city of brotherly love for about 4 months, when the record was done and ready to be recorded.Amanda feels most proud of the songs "If I didn't have you" and "Shades of grey" mostly because, "If I didn't have you" took the longest to write, and "Shades of grey" is about her life(Amanda's dad is Canadian, her mother Trinidian), and conveys a strong message. Besides writing and singing on the record, Amanda is also found displaying her talents as a pianist on the songs "Believe in you", "Love lift me", "If I didn't have you", "Ride", and "Never said goodbye"Amanda teamed up with the legendary Carole King on the song "Right here all along" after she arranged a meeting with the singer in Los Angeles.I'm not sure if this is still the case, but I think Amanda Marshall has a boyfriend, Rob Misiner, who plays bass guitar, and I think he goes on tour with her, so you can check him out there, but I'm not really sure!Tuesday's Child was somewhat written on the basis of a journal Amanda had kept with her on tour. She wrote down anything remotely inspiring, or interesting. Eric and Amanda then worked from there...So there you have it, I probably have left out some things, which I'll try to add as I think of them, if you have any questions, just email me and I'll do my best to answer them! (or leave them in the FAQ)
TIDBITS (things you were afraid that I actually knew)
~ Amanda is left handed
~ Amanda, according to estimated accounts of several people meeting her, is about 5 feet 2 inches tall
~ Amanda went to Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute (high school)
~ For good luck, Amanda and family eat black eyed peas and rice at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve
~ Amanda's dad is a sales executive and her mother is a private school administrator
~ Amanda enjoys running and boxing to keep her in shape
~ Her first big check was apparently spent on a couple of paintings
FAQ
Got a question not answered above?? Don't hesitate to ask!! I will try my best to answer them, or all of you out there that know the answers to some can answer them (providing a believable explanation of course). So, get those questions in!
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