If you have read our Black Deer Festival review recently, we mentioned Amanda Shires as one of the artists that we hadn’t heard of before and who blew us away. As luck would have it, we were going to cover the BST Hyde park gig by P!NK, and as we were going down on the Saturday morning, looking for something to do on the night we came across an album release event by Amanda Shires.

Well straight away we had to go, and the ticket price was an unbelievable £12, which included a copy of the album ‘Loving You’, and a signing, can’t go wrong with that. And what a special little venue, watching a cracking artist surrounded by LPs as its actually a record store with a great history. We recommend going at some point to see some really brilliant artists, like the amazing Teskey Brothers, who routinely sell-out much larger venues, who played there a couple of days ago.

Amanda shires recorded this album with Bobbie Nelson, Willie’s sister, who is sadly no longer with us. On Bobbie’s insistence, it is primarily an album of covers, and a wonderful collection it is. With a range of styles, which Shires’ voice weaves in and out of, it includes a stunning version of Willie’s ‘Always On My Mind’, which she sang tonight. It sent shivers down the spine. Her voice can seem almost brittle on the verge of breaking down and then in a blink, it soars. With a Parton sound, and a slight growl, it is a thing to behold. So glad we got to hear it up close.

Apart from tracks from ‘Loving You’, she performed some of her more well-known songs like ‘Take It Like A Man’, ‘Hawk For The Dove’ and ‘Empty Cups’, which were astoundingly atmospheric. Her set was not long enough for all here, but what a trooper. She posed for pics, signed the album and spoke to all that queued after, not just rushing you through. I took a couple of shots at Black Deer to get signed, and she wrote great comments on them, which was nice. This is a very talented lady, who should be listened NOW!

Photos & Review by Geoff Griffe
(Photos taken at Black Deer Festival Of Americana)