Song Review – Amanda Shires “Ghost Bird”
There’s a tangent to the argument defending the emergence of country rap that insists that country must evolve, that it cannot be hamstrung by tradition and idealistic attitudes about what country music should be. My reply would be that country has been trying to evolve for years, but those evolving elements have been pushed into the indie and underground realm as the mainstream devolves and looks outside of country’s big tent for commercial viability.
An excellent example of evolved country flying under the radar is Amanda Shire’s song “Ghost Bird” from her new album Carrying Lightning, and Amanda Shires herself. She might be best known for her work with the Thrift Store Cowboys, or collaborating with folks like Jason Isbell or Justin Townes Earle . The group DeVtochKa who once said “If you don’t like Amanda Shires…then you don’t like America.”) The willingness of Shires to play second fiddle when called for is a sign of humility and character, but over the years I have been most enamored with Amanda when she steps into the spotlight instead of side stepping it.
She is a fiddle player first, and a damn good one, but when employing a broad spectrum of measurements, Shires may have one of the most unique voices in country music by enacting such unbelievable and deliberate control with such an effortless air. Like Tammy Wynette in her prime, she can drop her voice out, or filter it through a grainy rasp for the accentuation of emotion. She combines this with a rapid-fire, almost yodel-like step down in tone at the end of phrases; a feat of vocal acrobatics that is as awe striking as a triple lutz. Her subtle but present southern accent peeking out gives it that extra bit of character and appeal as well.
“Ghost Bird” is a progressive, new-school country roots-based song that starts with an ambient music bed, similar to how the songs on Emmylou Harris’s album Wrecking Ball are constructed. The music itself holds a lot of emotion, and the human soul is further tickled by Shire’s voice and very well-crafted, subtle but not too abstract lyrics. The amount of mental imagery Amanda is able to create through this song is spectacular. Imagery is the song’s greatest asset.
Great songs are able to have universal appeal by the message of the song morphing to fit one’s unique life experience. In “Ghost Bird”, this isn’t just an attribute of the song, it is the foundation the song is built from.
I want to be able to say, “My name’s The Triggerman, and I like country music.” without having to chase it with qualifiers or explanations. Country is a big tent, and there is room in it to honor and preserve traditions, as well as for mainstream-appealing music, and yes, even country rap. But why can’t country music be something we can all be proud of, and something where the cream rises to the top? And if “Ghost Bird” was at the top of the country charts instead of Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem”, it would be. Somebody please give me the argument why “Ghost Bird” is not commercially viable?
Two guns way up!
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“Ghost Bird” is FREE on Amazon.
Preview & Purchase Carrying Lightning
Excellent video as well that enhances instead of destroys the beautiful imagery of the song.
June 14, 2011 @ 3:58 pm
First of all, i really enjoy that song and that artist, 2011 seems to be an excellent year for female artists who released a lot of good music. Great post !
To answer your question, I think radio owner, label manager and music row are disconnected from what happen in the street, the small bars, the underground……in there office in high towers they are living in another universe…..back in the older time….there were always some manager who were constantly going to small bars to discover new talents coming from the underground…now it’s all about American Idol and creating artists from the bottom to the top. It’s all about creating the biggest artist in a fastest and easiest way possible….when you start thinking this way you become lazy, you stop to improve and think outside the box…..the good thing for them is that probably 80% of people listens only to mainstream music coming from movies, radio, TV……honestly when i bring my friends or family member to listen some Hank III, Jayke Orvis, Rachel Brooke, PPJ…..EVERYBODY loved it….so there’s definetly some commercial viabilty that could come from those artists that we like….but music row manager are too disconnected and lazy to be aware of that.
June 14, 2011 @ 4:12 pm
Really digging “GhostBird”. Beautiful vocals. I actually checked her out a little a week or too ago after seeing her album up on XXX but from hearing that song in it’s entirety I am compelled to get it… Wish I had the fortune to be able to get more complete albums – cause I do think that is the right way to listen to music – but there is just SO much out there. This is really good stuff though… I see that “Ghostbird” is free on Amazon so I will be buying another track.
I agree completely with what you wrote about having to qualify your taste in country music instead of just saying that you like it. It’s even worse when no-one that you know is even aware that their IS a difference between Alt/Underground and what is on the radio. I swear there are tons of fools who think that Toby Keith is the renegade of country music.
June 14, 2011 @ 4:48 pm
Cool, didn’t know it was free on Amazon!
June 14, 2011 @ 7:00 pm
After downloading the “free-be” I bought “When You Need A Train It Never Comes”. Excellelent track. Thank you for reviewing this. I will certainly be gettin’ the whole-nine-yards when I can afford it.
June 14, 2011 @ 5:18 pm
Actually, it was the music group DeVotchKa that said, “If you don’t like Amanda Shires…then you don’t like America.”
Justin Townes Earle (with whom Amanda played fiddle with at Bonnaroo last weekend) said, “Amanda Shires leans back on her heels, bears down on her bow and evokes the spirit of Spade Cooley. With a voice that whispers Dolly and lyrics that scream Faulkner, this girl shines like a diamond, but she’s pure Pearl.”
Also, check out the NPR “All Music Considered” blog where “Ghost Bird” premiered. Amanda and animator, Cory Basil, talk about the song and the video. http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2011/05/13/136243270/first-watch-amanda-shires-animated-hopes-and-heartaches
June 14, 2011 @ 5:56 pm
Thanks for the correction. I saw in two different place where that quote was attributed to JTE. ???
That NPR blog is a good one. She also recently did a session with Daytrotter.
http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/amanda-shires-concert/20054658-110849.html
I saw her play with Jason Isbell at SXSW, at the American Songwriter showcase.
June 14, 2011 @ 5:21 pm
wow that’s really good stuff. plus i think i just developed a crush on her after reading this and watching the two videos
June 14, 2011 @ 5:58 pm
Dude, I totally have a music crush on her and you better keep your grubby hands off her because we’re getting married and she’s gonna have lots of Triggerman babies.
Nobody tell Rachel Brooke.
June 15, 2011 @ 6:38 pm
are you gonna do a review of the entire album? i’ll probably end up buying this one, haven’t stopped listening to her yet. thanks for the heads up trig, that’s why i love this site
June 15, 2011 @ 8:22 pm
I will do a review of the album if I ever receive a review copy. Numerous request to Amanda directly, through her Twitter account, to her management and booking agent have yet to result in any response whatsoever.
June 14, 2011 @ 6:11 pm
The reason she is not at the top of the charts is because I assume she doesn’t play the ‘christian’ game mainstream country demands. I had a friend that went down to Nashville with a demo done in hand and when he finally got into an office of a major player, the first thing the guy wanted him to do was get down on his knees with him and pray. Sometimes even that’s not enough. look, let’s face it, Nashville is the last holdout of the ‘old school’ music biz that 96.7% of REAL talent has been banging their head against the door trying top get in forever. Their days are numbered. All we can do is help wherever we can, hosting house concerts, hooking our favorites up with clubs we kn ow host this music and making sure radio statioons that WILL play this music HAVE it! I’m willing to help!
June 14, 2011 @ 7:14 pm
Strange theory. No doubt Nashville is in the throes of the Bible belt, but exchange “Christian” with “money” and I like your theory much better.
June 15, 2011 @ 6:33 pm
Not all artists sing about God to make money. That’s just a wrong theory you are luggin’ around in your pocket Triggerman.
Amanda Shires has an odd quiver in her voice. I’m not sure if I like it or not, at least in the Angels and Acrobats song. But she has talent. That’s for sure.
Great blog Triggerman.
June 15, 2011 @ 8:19 pm
Huh? Was I saying that people only sing about God to make money? I think you misinterpreted me.
June 16, 2011 @ 7:58 am
Perhaps I did. The way I read the comments was that Duncanmusic commented that Amanda Shires is not at the top of mainstream because she doesn’t “play the chrisitan ‘game’ that country mainstream demands” where you countered that if you associate money with chrisitanity that you agree. Correct me if I’m wrong please, but while I don’t like greed, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit can be in any realm of music, not just mainstream country and again, NOT ALL ARTISTS SING ABOUT GOD TO MAKE MONEY.
I suppose then the artists singin’ about the devil are doing the same, huh?
June 16, 2011 @ 8:37 am
My interpretation of “exhange Christian for money” was more like “substitute money for Christian.” If you do that, then it becomes “she doesn’t play the money game” as opposed to “she doesn’t play the Christian game.” That is, she’s not more financially successful because she’s not compromising her artistic integrity.
June 14, 2011 @ 6:36 pm
Holy shit what a voice! I have to say I have a music crush as well Trig! This is why I LOVE this site and country music.
June 14, 2011 @ 7:02 pm
There’s no denying that there is some real skill in there, in song writting, singing, and fiddling. That being said, really don’t like the Ghost Bird song. Just a little bit too weird, too new-agey, I don’t know. Liked the second song though.
June 15, 2011 @ 5:13 am
Simply: this is why I read this website. Thanks.
June 15, 2011 @ 6:16 am
I want to be able to say, “My name”™s The Triggerman, and I like country music.” without having to chase it with qualifiers or explanations.
I hear you. Country is the only type of music that I’m into where I would feel a need to do that. I feel no need to do that for rock and roll, blues, or bluegrass, for example. It’s not about shame, either. More about accuracy.
June 15, 2011 @ 12:09 pm
If I told someone I liked rock/metal and they thought that meant I was into Nickleback or Korn, they’d be mistaken. At their worst all mainstream genres are trash… Country mainstream is just a TAD more awful than the rest.
June 15, 2011 @ 1:47 pm
Maybe, but I’d say mainstream country has a higher profile than mainstream rock these days. Maybe I’m wrong there and it’s just that I’m just completely ignoring mainstream rock.
June 15, 2011 @ 4:10 pm
There is no mainstream rock anymore, it has been incorporated into mainstream country in the formation of the country super-genre.
June 15, 2011 @ 9:08 am
good voice…good stuff
June 15, 2011 @ 1:53 pm
Fantastic song!!
Beside the fact that this song doesn’t fit into the crappy pop country mold of mainstream country radio it also doesn’t fit the into what mainstream country wants a female artist to be. Women aren’t supposed to sing about the things that hurt our hearts, or the truths of life. They are supposed to be pretty and rain sunshine and unicorns down on everyone via their songs. This song is madness, madness I say!! 🙂
June 15, 2011 @ 6:58 pm
Mmmm…delicious unicorn….the best corn there is…
Great record.
June 16, 2011 @ 9:58 am
For Jack
Perhaps Amand Shires doesn’t forfeit integrity for financial success. That’s admirable no doubt. But the blanket statement Duncanmusic offered is just thin and flimsy. Whoever that was that wanted Duncanmusic’s artist friend to pray with him doesn’t equate automatically to exchanging christianity for money. In fact, that particular person may just hate the evilness of the record company and wanted to start things out on the right knee. Religion can mess you up but seeking the Lord will not. Most people don’t want to talk about God, it seems, because they don’t want to offend. Quite frankly, it offends me if you don’t want to talk about God.
June 16, 2011 @ 11:20 am
Well, then perhaps you and Triggerman agree, as it seems to me that he is skeptical of the existence of this “Christian game”, but more convinced of the existence of a completely different “money game.” Having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these music row factory songwriters have the words God, Jesus and Lord in their toolkits. I bet some of them aren’t even believers.
June 16, 2011 @ 12:03 pm
This religious debate seems to be neither here nor there in the case of Amanda Shires, I found her genre listed as “Christian/Gospel” on a site called freefox (that was just from a basic google search of her genre after reading all of this). Who cares? Her CD is great, she is talented. She IS getting noticed. Let’s just love her…like she deserves!