Amazin' Amanda

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Ask Amanda Marshall about a lyric from Tuesday's Child, her second album, and you get a glimpse of her animated onstage persona.

"Shadow boxing in my head again, lying here beside you in the dark. Making mountains out of nothing, hoping against hope and making deals with God," goes the line from Right Here All Along.

"I do that a lot," the Toronto-based singer is saying in a downtown hotel. "The only time for quiet contemplation is when you're lying in the dark and things that were weighing on you ... suddenly the crushing weight of contemplation is upon you," she says looking skyward, gesturing with her hands and laughing.

"The lyric is about doubt and the tendency to overanalyze things," Marshall continues. "I certainly do. The more I think about it the worse it gets," she says, laughing.

With the arrival of a new album, you can rest assured Marshall's going to be taking her own advice. She celebrated the album's release at a small downtown club the day it hit stores, and a string of dates across Canada has already been announced. She's at Massey Hall June 14.

And if you're wondering if Marshall is a Tuesday child, the answer is yes.

"The title was inspired by a song I was writing that eventually fell by the wayside and I started calling the album that 'cause we didn't have a title," the diminutive dynamo says, laughing.

"Then I started thinking about it and I was talking to my mom about it and she said, 'You were born on a Tuesday,' and I thought that was too convenient.

"Then I started thinking about the Mother Goose poem ... Monday's child is fair-faced, Tuesday's child is full of grace," Marshall says. "I like the idea that everyone's born with a pre-destined path, and some people find it right away and it takes a little long for others.

"It seemed to fit the overall theme of the record which, to me, is finding one's place in relationships, your family, the world."

On songs such as Love Lift Me and Why Don't You Love Me?, Marshall's big, bluesy voice is still in place, and so is the gutsy acoustic pop-rock arrangements. Tuesday's Child isn't a huge departure from her 1996 debut, Amanda Marshall.

However, fans who read the album's liner notes will notice one major difference. Marshall, who began singing professionally at 17, co-wrote the entire album.

"It came very easily," she says. "I never anticipated being as involved in the writing of the record. I did it to find out if it was a strength."

Marshall says she was inspired to write after noticing the response elicited by Sitting On Top Of The World and Dark Horse, two songs that she co-wrote on Amanda Marshall.

Marshall collaborated with Eric Bazilian, who's worked with Joan Osborne and The Hooters, and also teamed up with pop legend Carole King. Don Was, who's produced discs for The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, manned the boards for Tuesday's Child.

Impressed by the volume of words in her notebooks, Bazilian's reaction was: "You must have something to say."

"The notebooks had completed pieces of music, song titles, snatches of phrases, lyrics, music, thoughts, melodies and all kinds of stuff," Marshall explains.

Working with the Philadelphia-based Bazilian was a breeze, she says.

"We sat in his living room, I was at the piano, he played the guitar, we had a little tape recorder like yours going and we just talked about life and love and sex, and politics and religion.

"And we got on a roll," she says. "We wrote one song, then another, and by the end of three months we had about 20 songs written."

Given that Tuesday's Child deals with "family, relationships, and friendships," we wondered how difficult it is to maintain a relationship when you're an artist who's always on the go.

"I've been in a relationship for eight years, we work together and see each other all the time but even there you have to be careful of the isolation and divisions that it may create," she says.

Marshall once said that life on the road "becomes a series of extremes. Your day is great, or there's a horrible crisis. You're always meeting people but rarely getting to know them."

"When you do what I do it's like signing up to join the circus," she says. "Everywhere you go there's a huge welcoming committee, whether it's fans or record company people, and it creates a sense of immediate intimacy.

"It's not a real sense of intimacy but it's necessary to do what you do," she adds. "You have to create a balance and understand that you're travelling in a bubble.

"So, as quickly as you take people in, you have to learn to let them go," Marshall says. "But you learn, and it teaches you what's important."


	Sunday June 6, 1999 Amazin' Amanda Marshall's star continues to rise with Tuesday's Child By ERROL NAZARETH -- Toronto Sun ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ask Amanda Marshall about a lyric from Tuesday's Child, her second album, and you get a glimpse of her animated onstage persona. "Shadow boxing in my head again, lying here beside you in the dark. Making mountains out of nothing, hoping against hope and making deals with God," goes the line from Right Here All Along. "I do that a lot," the Toronto-based singer is saying in a downtown hotel. "The only time for quiet contemplation is when you're lying in the dark and things that were weighing on you ... suddenly the crushing weight of contemplation is upon you," she says looking skyward, gesturing with her hands and laughing. "The lyric is about doubt and the tendency to overanalyze things," Marshall continues. "I certainly do. The more I think about it the worse it gets," she says, laughing. "You have to just relax." With the arrival of a new album, you can rest assured Marshall's going to be taking her own advice. She celebrated the album's release at a small downtown club the day it hit stores, and a string of dates across Canada has already been announced. She's at Massey Hall June 14. And if you're wondering if Marshall is a Tuesday child, the answer is yes. "The title was inspired by a song I was writing that eventually fell by the wayside and I started calling the album that 'cause we didn't have a title," the diminutive dynamo says, laughing. "Then I started thinking about it and I was talking to my mom about it and she said, 'You were born on a Tuesday,' and I thought that was too convenient. "Then I started thinking about the Mother Goose poem ... Monday's child is fair-faced, Tuesday's child is full of grace," Marshall says. "I like the idea that everyone's born with a pre-destined path, and some people find it right away and it takes a little long for others. "It seemed to fit the overall theme of the record which, to me, is finding one's place in relationships, your family, the world." On songs such as Love Lift Me and Why Don't You Love Me?, Marshall's big, bluesy voice is still in place, and so is the gutsy acoustic pop-rock arrangements. Tuesday's Child isn't a huge departure from her 1996 debut, Amanda Marshall. However, fans who read the album's liner notes will notice one major difference. Marshall, who began singing professionally at 17, co-wrote the entire album. "It came very easily," she says. "I never anticipated being as involved in the writing of the record. I did it to find out if it was a strength." Marshall says she was inspired to write after noticing the response elicited by Sitting On Top Of The World and Dark Horse, two songs that she co-wrote on Amanda Marshall. Marshall collaborated with Eric Bazilian, who's worked with Joan Osborne and The Hooters, and also teamed up with pop legend Carole King. Don Was, who's produced discs for The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, manned the boards for Tuesday's Child. Impressed by the volume of words in her notebooks, Bazilian's reaction was: "You must have something to say." "The notebooks had completed pieces of music, song titles, snatches of phrases, lyrics, music, thoughts, melodies and all kinds of stuff," Marshall explains. Working with the Philadelphia-based Bazilian was a breeze, she says. "We sat in his living room, I was at the piano, he played the guitar, we had a little tape recorder like yours going and we just talked about life and love and sex, and politics and religion. "And we got on a roll," she says. "We wrote one song, then another, and by the end of three months we had about 20 songs written." Given that Tuesday's Child deals with "family, relationships, and friendships," we wondered how difficult it is to maintain a relationship when you're an artist who's always on the go. "I've been in a relationship for eight years, we work together and see each other all the time but even there you have to be careful of the isolation and divisions that it may create," she says. Marshall once said that life on the road "becomes a series of extremes. Your day is great, or there's a horrible crisis. You're always meeting people but rarely getting to know them." You sense Marshall would have it differently. "When you do what I do it's like signing up to join the circus," she says. "Everywhere you go there's a huge welcoming committee, whether it's fans or record company people, and it creates a sense of immediate intimacy. "It's not a real sense of intimacy but it's necessary to do what you do," she adds. "You have to create a balance and understand that you're travelling in a bubble. "So, as quickly as you take people in, you have to learn to let them go," Marshall says. "But you learn, and it teaches you what's important." The AMANDA MARSHALL File: WHEN: Born on Aug. 29, 1972. WHAT: Her first album, Amanda Marshall, has sold over 800,000 copies in Canada and 2 million copies worldwide since its release three years back.