Marshall Arts
Amanda starts a new chapter with Everybody's Got a Story CD
By ROB WILLIAMS
Winnipeg Sun
Even Amanda Marshall's mother has got a story about her daughter's new album.
Marshall's mom got to meet Peter Asher, one of her teen idols, during the recording of her daughter's CD, Everybody's Got a Story.
"This is the first time in, like, seven years my mother has actually asked to come to the studio. It was all about, 'I really want to come down and hear the songs,' but I knew she just wanted to meet him," Marshall, 27, says.
Asher was one half of the 1960s British Invasion folk-pop group Peter and Gordon. Since then, he has become a manager and successful producer working with artists such as Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Diana Ross.
He can add Marshall's name to that list now. Asher co-produced Marshall's new disc with songwriter Billy Mann, who also co-wrote the album.
"The cool thing about Peter is his presence freed Billy and I up to just be stupid; to be kids and hang out in the studio and push buttons and turn knobs," Marshall says. "At the end of the day we called Peter Obi-Wan Kenobi because he would come in and listen to it and kind of be like, 'Yeah ... you know what would be great? We should get a 25-piece orchestra and lay that over top of these beats and that would be a real classic element.' And we trusted him, because you know, he knows. He's Peter!
"But at the same time I have to say he was really open to a lot of new things because I think he was aware this was a modern record and I think it was somewhat outside the scope of records he was making recently, so he was really excited by the technology and by covering some new ground and trying new things."
The album marks a change in Marshall's sound from her previous two releases, Amanda Marshall and Tuesday's Child.
Everybody's Got a Story finds Marshall exploring hip-hop and funk sounds overtop beats laid down by unknown Bronx DJ Molecules, whom Mann met through a janitor at his health club.
"Those beats to me were really unique. They were modern, but they weren't like everything else I was hearing on everybody else's record," Marshall says, adding she wanted to step out on a creative limb with the album and explore new sounds.
"I felt I was at the end of a chapter and I really wanted to do something different. I wanted to do something that was going to be a more accurate reflection of me on a more personal level.
"I was clear with what I wanted the record to say. I wanted it to be a more groove oriented album."
No matter how many studio tricks are used on the record, the highlight of the album is Marshall's powerful voice, which rises above every beat, boom, sample and string.
Marshall's new sound seems to have caught the ears of the Juno panel who have nominated her for two awards for best single and best artist.
So, come April 14, Marshall and her mother could have some new tales to tell.
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