Amanda Shaw

She’s Not A Bubble Gum Pop Princess

She’s just 17. She’s cute. She sings. She’s from Louisiana. You probably think you know who I’m talking about, but you’re wrong. It’s Amanda Shaw. This young girl is a far cry from the processed music of Brittney. Amanda plays cajun music with a fiddle. She covers everything from a traditional cajun song to a cover of Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” to the Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”.

She’s been playing for years and she’s only 17 now. This last year marked her third appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. She’s a popular favorite. Her excitement on this live album is infectious, you can tell she is having the best time of her life up there on the stage singing and talking to the audience. She’s released two of her live shows from the Jazz Fest. On her studio album she sings songs in French and then turns around and sings the punk classic by the Clash.

She’s recently been signed to Rounder Records and has just released a new studio album last week. Rounder has paired her with some veteran singer/songwriters from Louisiana like Shannon McNally and Anders Osborne to work on material for this album. Before this she had released two cds on small independent labels. Her previous album was entitled “I’m Not A Bubble Gum Pop Princess” and covers songs from traditional Cajun music as well as songs from the Ramones and the Clash.

Amanda picked up the violin at the age of three and started to play. At the age of seven she’s the youngest person to solo with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. Amanda’s early training on the violin was in a classical mode, but she soon discovered Cajun music and found her true calling. She’s appeared on the Rosie O’Donnell show and starred in two Disney movies.

The mention of Disney shows how her path diverged from another Louisiana singer. Amanda decided that movies was not the path she wanted to go in and went back to her music. Amanda wants to focus on her music and not the celebrity that goes along with it.

She was featured in the 2006 IMAX movie “Hurricane on the Bayou” alongside other local artists. If you ever have a chance to see her live don’t miss it. She puts on one of the most fun shows you’ll see.