Fiddle stylings baptized in the Panhandle winds.

14 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Traditional Folk, COUNTRY: Western



Details:
As a ten year old Amanda Shires fell in love with the fiddle the first time she saw one. It was a green and yellow, no-name Chinese student model, but soon she was playing âThe Spanish Two-Stepâ. Within a year she became an original member of todayÂâs well-known Ranch Dance Fiddle Band. In addition to beginning her life long passion with swing and traditional fiddle styles, she also played in school, city and regional orchestras and symphonies earning distinction in various competitions.

Upon graduation from Lubbock High School she enrolled in the world famous South Plains College School of Music where she met several other young budding musicians. Pooling their talents they formed the Thrift Store Cowboys. Three critically acclaimed albums and several national tours later they are one of the brightest stars in the current crop of hot alternative country bands.

Shires' musical interests have always been wide and variant. Her facility across a range of styles as well as her beautiful rich voice and harmony singing have lead her to associations and collaborations with a wide range of highly regarded musicians and writers. Alongside her work with Thrift Store Cowboys , Shires has worked with Texas legends Billy Joe Shaver, Gary P Nunn, and The Texas Playboys as well as Folk/Bluegrass favorites The Rowen Brothers, Andy Wilkinson, Whit Smith's Hot Jazz Caravan, and one of Indie rock's hottest acts Devotchka.

Her first solo album release âBeing Braveâ from 2005 is testament to her short but extraordinary career, mixing brilliant arrangements and performances of traditional fiddle music along with several of her own compositions. Now 24 Amanda Shires stands in front of an already impressive body of work and on the edge of a career in full bloom.