Marshall enjoying the view

Marshall enjoying the view

By Alison Mayes, The Calgary Herald, May 3rd 1997

To quote from her latest single, Amanda Marshall is Sitting On Top of the World.

The 24-year-old Toronto singer with the gutsy voice and the mane of spiralling blonde curls gives a sold-out concert in Calgary tonight.

Sunday at 7 p.m., she stars in a national CTV special featuring performance, interview and backstage footage.

Her self-titled debut album has sold more than a million copies worldwide. She has appeared on high-profile talk shows including Rosie O'Donnell, David Letterman and Regis & Kathie Lee.

No less a celebrity than Elton John has publically named her album as one of his favorites. Radio listeners all over North America are humming her heartland-flavored hits: Birmingham, Fall From Grace, Let It Rain, Dark Horse.

Yet by one measurement, fame hasn't caught up with Marshall yet. She can still go out running, she says, in any

city without being hassled -- something she tries to do for 30 or 40 minutes a day to "stay sharp." She particularly enjoys being in New York because she can run in Central Park.

"I haven't ever been accosted yet," she says by phone from Chicago, where she is opening one of a series of shows for John Mellencamp.

Asked about other escapes from music, Marshall says she doesn't need them. After 16 months on the road -- she has performed in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan as well as this continent -- she's still content with the lifestyle of constant travel and upheaval. On stage, she says, "I'm more streamlined and confident. . . . It would be disheartening to think that I haven't grown and changed and matured."

Marshall does enjoy the distraction of reading. She has just finished Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone, a novel recommended by Oprah Winfrey about a woman who keeps her sense of humor while overcoming abandonment, binge-eating, rape and suicide attempts. Next on her reading list is Mia Farrow's autobiography.

After opening tours for Jeff Healey, Tom Cochrane and Tears For Fears as well as Mellencamp, Marshall is on

her first headlining tour of Canada. But she's one of those performers who seems unfazed by growing attention. She finds appearing on talk shows, for instance, "not too stressful. I'm pretty comfortable in my skin."

Marshall says she's not at all like the singers who deliberately maintain a public image and constantly reinvent

themselves. "I dress the way I dress, I talk the way I talk. My primary motivation (on stage) is comfort. . . . I owe

it to myself to be as upfront and honest as possible. I wanted the record to be an accurate, honest (depiction) of the kind of artist I am."

What did the singer splurge on when she earned her first big cheque?

"I'm still waiting for that first big cheque!" she says with a laugh. "I'm never home, so I don't buy a lot of stuff. I

did buy some prints from the van Gogh museum and shipped them home."

When it comes to fashion, "the irony is that when you're starting out and you have no money, you covet all these

great designer clothes. Now I can have them, but shopping becomes work. I run through clothes very quickly and it just becomes this mass accumulation of stuff. I'm always trying to under-pack."

Sunday's hour-long TV special will provide a glimpse of Marshall's life on the road with her band. They took along a Hi-8 camera to Japan and Europe, and Marshall herself shot some of the behind-the-scenes footage.

She was pleased when CTV approached her with the chance to be showcased nationally.

"It's cool. It gives people an opportunity to see us on a day-to-day level. One reason we decided to do it is that

Canada is so vast, and we don't get to hit a lot of little pockets when we tour. TV does connect a lot of these smaller communities."


	Marshall enjoying the view By Alison Mayes, The Calgary Herald, May 3rd 1997 To quote from her latest single, Amanda Marshall is Sitting On Top of the World. The 24-year-old Toronto singer with the gutsy voice and the mane of spiralling blonde curls gives a sold-out concert in Calgary tonight. Sunday at 7 p.m., she stars in a national CTV special featuring performance, interview and backstage footage. Her self-titled debut album has sold more than a million copies worldwide. She has appeared on high-profile talk shows including Rosie O'Donnell, David Letterman and Regis & Kathie Lee. No less a celebrity than Elton John has publically named her album as one of his favorites. Radio listeners all over North America are humming her heartland-flavored hits: Birmingham, Fall From Grace, Let It Rain, Dark Horse. Yet by one measurement, fame hasn't caught up with Marshall yet. She can still go out running, she says, in any city without being hassled -- something she tries to do for 30 or 40 minutes a day to "stay sharp." She particularly enjoys being in New York because she can run in Central Park. "I haven't ever been accosted yet," she says by phone from Chicago, where she is opening one of a series of shows for John Mellencamp. Asked about other escapes from music, Marshall says she doesn't need them. After 16 months on the road -- she has performed in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan as well as this continent -- she's still content with the lifestyle of constant travel and upheaval. On stage, she says, "I'm more streamlined and confident. . . . It would be disheartening to think that I haven't grown and changed and matured." Marshall does enjoy the distraction of reading. She has just finished Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone, a novel recommended by Oprah Winfrey about a woman who keeps her sense of humor while overcoming abandonment, binge-eating, rape and suicide attempts. Next on her reading list is Mia Farrow's autobiography. After opening tours for Jeff Healey, Tom Cochrane and Tears For Fears as well as Mellencamp, Marshall is on her first headlining tour of Canada. But she's one of those performers who seems unfazed by growing attention. She finds appearing on talk shows, for instance, "not too stressful. I'm pretty comfortable in my skin." Marshall says she's not at all like the singers who deliberately maintain a public image and constantly reinvent themselves. "I dress the way I dress, I talk the way I talk. My primary motivation (on stage) is comfort. . . . I owe it to myself to be as upfront and honest as possible. I wanted the record to be an accurate, honest (depiction) of the kind of artist I am." What did the singer splurge on when she earned her first big cheque? "I'm still waiting for that first big cheque!" she says with a laugh. "I'm never home, so I don't buy a lot of stuff. I did buy some prints from the van Gogh museum and shipped them home." When it comes to fashion, "the irony is that when you're starting out and you have no money, you covet all these great designer clothes. Now I can have them, but shopping becomes work. I run through clothes very quickly and it just becomes this mass accumulation of stuff. I'm always trying to under-pack." Sunday's hour-long TV special will provide a glimpse of Marshall's life on the road with her band. They took along a Hi-8 camera to Japan and Europe, and Marshall herself shot some of the behind-the-scenes footage. She was pleased when CTV approached her with the chance to be showcased nationally. "It's cool. It gives people an opportunity to see us on a day-to-day level. One reason we decided to do it is that Canada is so vast, and we don't get to hit a lot of little pockets when we tour. TV does connect a lot of these smaller communities."