Amanda Shires is bringing a high-energy performance of her new album “To the Sunset” to the Capitol Theatre Nov. 11. Courtesy of Alleyesmedia
By Amy Diaz
On tour with her new album “To the Sunset,” singer, songwriter, and violinist Amanda Shires will perform at The Capitol Theatre in Clearwater Nov. 11., showcasing a new sound.
Shires, 36, is known for her folksy lyrics that tell a story in a soft, acoustic style.
In 2017, Amanda Shires won the Americana Music Association’s Emerging Artist of The Year award after releasing her album “My Piece of Land.”
In January, she made her national television debut on Austin City Limits, a concert series featuring artists in a live music setting.
Afterward, she began touring, both solo and with 400 Unit, her husband Jason Isbell’s band. While a part of his band, Shires won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album for “The Nashville Sound.”
Her new album maintains her usual personal and poetic lyrics but adds an edge, making some songs sound like indie pop and others rock ‘n’ roll. The songs are strong, the guitars are electric and the vocals are hypnotic.
Shires said the change in sound wasn’t intentional.
“I don’t set up and plan to try to have a certain sound. I want to write what I think I need to write, and it just turned out to be that it’s this,” Shires said. “But really I think it’s a strong sound because I have stronger self-confidence now and I’m a mom and I get mad at the world.”
Shires and Isbell welcomed their daughter, Mercy Rose, into the world in 2015. She said having a child has changed her songwriting process.
“In the past, I just sort of wrote songs and I would just sit down and write and put my papers away, so they wouldn’t be seen in their rough forms,” Shires said. “But this one I had to do differently because I have a three-year-old daughter, and when I would sit in my office to write she would want to come too.”
Now Shires does her songwriting in a closet and tapes her lyrics, even in their beginning stages, to the walls.
“It was visible for my husband or my best friend or my mom or whoever to see,” Shires said. “I think that being in that tiny space facing the work for that long all day long and then also accepting the fact that it was incomplete and unfinished but hanging on the wall, I got more comfortable in my own way of writing.”
Shires said her newfound comfort and confidence gave her songs a new energy, which contributed to the stronger sound of the album.
A lot of her songs on the new album deal with themes of motherhood, both from her own experience and that of her mother’s.
“‘Eve’s Daughter’ is a song I wrote that’s really my mom’s story that I’m telling about how she took me and my sister and basically had to start her life over,” Shires said. “We went from us living in a trailer, to her getting her degree, then renting a house, then her getting another degree, then she bought a house.”
The song kicks off with a riff on an electric guitar, followed by Shire letting out an excited yet melodic “Woo-hoo!”
“I guess I’m just really proud of her. She’s a really strong person,” Shires said. “It’s easy to not power through it and she did, and I hope that I’ve learned, or it’s been instilled in me, to be able to rock as hard as she has.”
Messages of female empowerment, muscling through life and fighting for what you believe in are found throughout Shires’ songs. These are messages Shires feel people need to hear.
“You know, most of us wake up every day and read the news, and our president has time called ‘executive time,’ where he just sits around and tweets and that’s not getting anything done,” Shires said. “I have a lot of problems still with the fact that we’re so behind in treating people equally, whether we’re a woman or gay or black or whatever, and it’s sad and it’s worth fighting for.”
Shires’ seventh song on the album “Take on the Dark” illustrates her message:
“Take on the dark / Without letting it take over / Lead with your heart / Don’t look over your shoulder.”
“Take on the dark, now’s the time,” Shires said. “Don’t forget to vote. Your voice matters.”
Her passion shines through in her performance. Shires said this is a high-energy show and the audience can expect to see her rocking and dancing across the stage.
“We like to chase the animal in the room that is improvisation and wildness and fun,” Shires said of her and her band while touring. “We like to make new friends and check out the town we’re in.”
Florida isn’t new territory for Shires.
“I love Clearwater, I have a lot of love for Florida,” she said. “One of the earliest radio stations to play my music was WMNF and I have friends in Tarpon Springs. I think it’s beautiful.”
Tickets are still available for her performance Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre, 405 Cleveland St, Downtown Clearwater. Prices range from $25 to 35 . Tickets can be purchased here.
