Amanda Davids – Day After Day
“Reach for each other and say, hey neighbour love will bring us through” these are the words of Amanda Davids, a Toronto born musician, who defines herself by her unique sound. Her music reaches out to the past and present combining soul, funk, jazz and hip hop. As a pianist and a vocalist she really captures the essence of an artist.
I had the opportunity to see her live at the beginning of the year and I was amazed at her piano skills, and a voice that would be loved if she sang during the 1970’s. Her show was filled with blues riffs and classical elements. So I decided to inquire a lot more about the gifted musician. Her influences as she mentions are Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Oscar Peterson, Etta James, Beethoven and Rachmanioff, and current musicians such as The Roots, Herbie Hancock and Christina Aguilera.
Her songs are filled with emotion, as is her writing process; she claims “It’s somewhat of a release of emotions or thoughts that had been created by life experiences or even a piece of music she might have heard.” Her songs off her demo CD were meant to “convey a message of strength, thereby inspiring people to stand for what they believe in and not be afraid to do or say what they may have to.”
Canada has a market for rock bands and “rock and roll” so for artists like Amanda Davids and the like getting out there can be a huge hurdle. On the other hand she feels independent artists have a great deal of power and freedom to create the album they want and contact their fans directly. Thus downloading music is a great promotional tool, which allows independent artists to get their music out, have it heard and reach audiences that normally would have no access to their music. The internet allows a forum in which artists can reach their fan base directly, receive direct feedback and sell their work.
After touring earlier on in the year Amanda decided to take some time off and work on her debut album, since she was tired of carrying her 50 pound keyboard throughout the country. The album should be out by January 2009, an album that she is producing herself featuring her touring musicians Shai Locke on guitar and Dj Xplisit on the turntables and beatbox.
Miss Davids was friendly enough to share what she has been reading and listening to, “I love Herbie Hancock’s work new and old…I have Herbalizer, Medeski Martin and Wood, Codex and Aretha Franklin on my mp3 player right now. As for books, I love fiction and currently I am reading The Golden Compass.”
Tags: album
