Amanda Richards

Those who think that folk music, or the blues, lacks a sense of humor hasn't heard singer/songwriter Amanda Richards (http://www.amandarichards.net). On "Cookies & Whiskey," Richards describes the plight of a woman who has been dumped by her lover. Instead of simply writing words of despair, Richards describes how the ex-girlfriend drowns her sorrow in junk food and hard liquor: "Been living on memories/Cream pies and drink/Which might explain the tear drops/And chocolate smeared ink." It's funny stuff, but also deeply sad because it's a phase that probably all of us, male or female, have gone through.

Although lyrically speaking the tone of "Cookies & Whiskey" doesn't summarize the CD as a whole, I bring it to your attention because it's a can't-miss track. Whether or not folk music appeals to you, "Cookies & Whiskey" should strike a chord. In "Cookies & Whiskey," the protagonist has gotten fat and miserable, losing the beauty she once had: "I knew you liked tight jeans/But I took it too far/'Cause I can't fit in nothing/Including my car." Nevertheless, Richards manages to write a surprisingly happy twist at the tune's end.

Richards is a fine storyteller, narrating her tales of heartache with a brutally honest pen. "I Love You More (When I'm All Alone)" is a keen kiss-off: "I don't care, I won't fight/If you don't come home/Because I love you more/When I'm all alone." Ouch. Richards' characters are either proudly independent, as on "It's Already Over," or clinging to a dying relationship, like in "Here I Am." Although recorded before an audience, the record sounds warm and intimate.
- Adam Harrington - Whisperin & Hollerin (Jan 1, 2007

Lady can certainly sing the blues, but with a sharp, sometimes comical, tongue. On "Cookies & Whiskey," Richards drops these lyrical bombs: "But I'll drown my sorrows/In pastries and booze/I've got a big ass and bad gas/And heartbroken blues." The acoustic-folk arrangements are given extra spice by George Turner's cello; however, it's Richards' words that steal the show.
- - 75orless.com (Jan 20, 2007)

It’s hard to believe that Amanda Richards is only 25 years old. This rising local songwriter has a voice that commands instant attention — alternately clear, cutting, gritty, sultry and full of longing.

But Richards isn’t just an impressive voice. Her songwriting — which mostly revolves around relationships that didn’t work, aren’t working or aren’t going to work — is remarkably diverse and complex, and she brings a sense of warmth and humor to the material, as well as her perfomance.

On her new CD, “Live at Mississippi Studios,” songs like “I Love You More (When I’m All Alone)” and “Cookies & Whiskey” add a wink and a bite to the standard relationship-gone-wrong equations and prove to be crowd pleasers.

Richards is equally at home with more forlorn material, and her emotive vocals add a genuine resonance to the material.

She’s spellbinding across the spectrum, and a standout whose star is on the rise.
- Barbara Mitchell - The Portland Tribune

I have to be honest: I'm having trouble writing an objective review of Not Always Sexy, Amanda Richards' debut CD. From the moment I heard her single, "Magnum 45," I was jump-up-and-down psyched about this bold-voiced artist. Part rockabilly, part old country, part blues, part classic rock, she even throws in a little bossanova just to keep you on your toes. Amanda refuses to be categorized, which is cool, because the richness of her style pretty much makes her uncategorizable. A native of the Portland, Oregon singer/songwriter scene, she's 25 years old, but you wouldn't know it from her lyrics. Her poeticism, depth, and eloquence are rare for artists twice her age.
She's playing all around Portland this summer, and even has a date in Seattle too. If you'll be around those parts and want to check her out, you can find her tour schedule on her website: http://www.amandarichards.net/. Go there to download free MP3s of "Magnum 45" and Not Always Sexy's "Cookies and Whiskey" or to order a copy of the awesome CD. And don't, like, lend your copy to a friend without buying a duplicate or something, because this album's addictive, and you might never get it back.
And in case you're still not convinced she's the coolest thing ever to come out of Gresham, OR, Amanda confessed to me that, when she's 50 and having her midlife crisis, instead of buying a convertible or dating some 20-year-old, she's gonna get a full-color tattoo of a peacock feather on the back of her calf. That is so indie-star cool.
- Lori Fagerholm - CoOpted

Most live albums are pointless.

True, for hardcore fans of that particular artist, they can serve as a memento of a fondly recalled gig or provide a snack between studio releases. Given that Portland, OR singer/songwriter Amanda Richards is far from a household name, you have to figure that she must feel there is something special about this performance. Sure enough, the rounds of applause that appear between tracks are well-deserved; this is one of the most intimate, emotionally charged, and occasionally funny albums you’ll hear this year.

Richards has a bluesy, dark-hued voice; it can soar with unbridled passion, as on “Home, I’m On My Way,” or melt into 3 a.m. melancholia, like on “I Want You.” Richards’ lyrics are steeped in romantic despair but she never gives in to depression. In fact, her message seems to be that, yeah, we can get screwed up in our relationships, but we have to push ourselves forward. In “Home, I’m On My Way,” Richards sings about leaving a man who can’t even save himself. “Though it’s sad to let you go/I’m on my way to a brighter day/And this boat is mine to row.” In a sense, Richards has discovered how to heal herself of the blues while singing about them at the same time. “I’m Sure You’d Know” finds Richards in love with a guy who can’t drop an old flame, but the old blues cliché of wallowing in pain isn’t utilized here. “So now what am I supposed to do/Sit around and wait for you?” Richards asks.

The independent spirit and personal strength that fuels Richards’ words is pretty uplifting—and sometimes humorous as well. “I Love You More (When I’m All Alone)” (great title!) has a hysterically pointed punch line: “I dream about your body/I think about old times…But I’m so glad, baby, you’re gone.” Richards delivers that line with a stand-up comedian’s sharp timing and the righteous indignation of a woman who isn’t going to take shit from anyone.

However, not everything here is laced with vinegar. “I Want You” is genuinely romantic and “Cookies & Whiskey” is a hilarious, warts-and-all look at the aftermath of a break-up.

www.amandarichards.net
- Michael Sutton - cdreviews.com (Jan 10, 2007)

Friday, October 20, 2006

Amanda Richards, 23, seems grounded for life. The singer-songwriter, who grew up in Gresham and whose grandfather was an 18-year member of the Sons of the Pioneers, is about to headline her first show, Saturday night at the Aladdin Theater. But speaking recently at a North Portland coffee shop, two things are clear: She's hoping her country-western and bluesy-folk will take her far as her musical heritage helps to anchor her feet firmly to the earth.

Is this the biggest venue you've played so far?

In Portland, yeah. The bigger ones I've played have been in festival situations. I've played at the Haight Ashbury Street Fair, where there's 10,000 people. But, you know, they're not all there for the music; they're there for the brownies (laughs). So this is pretty exciting.

Your grandfather was in the Sons of the Pioneers. Is the rest of your family musical?

Oh, yeah. My cousin taught me some Joan Baez songs that her mom taught her. Three of my grandpa's four children all became professional musicians; my dad and two aunts. My dad sang country and western, and at one point sang in the Grand Ole Opry.

When you did begin teaching yourself to play guitar?

I started playing guitar when I was 12. I started playing covers and just thought, "Well, this will be easier if I just write my own songs" (laughs).

At 23, some musicians are still rebelling against their parents' musical influence. But you're embracing your roots.

Well, I went through the whole teenage rebellion phase, like everybody did -- burnt part of the record collection, didn't want anybody to know I liked this kind of stuff, and still do. But it really is a part of who I am and in a lot of ways a big part of history.

Do you hope to reach the status of your grandfather's group?

Honestly, the band my grandfather was in was like the '40s equivalent of The Beatles. . . . For me, more important than being a rock star or anything like that is being a good person with a message that makes other people want to be good people also. . . . I don't necessarily want to be on major label or be a millionaire. I just want something humble and sustaining.


- Lee Williams - The Oregonian A&E

The’s got a strong voice. She plays a mean guitar. But at her core, she’s a lyrics girl.

At 23, Richards is a hometown girl – she attended Barlow High School and Mt. Hood Community College – with big talent.

With a self-produced CD out and a tour planned this fall, she’ll headline her first major concert Saturday, Oct. 21 at the Aladdin Theater.

Hailing from a musical family, Richards grew up learning classic folk rock music. Her cousin taught her “Diamonds and Rust” by Joan Baez. At age 5, she was belting out “Love is a Battlefield” by Pat Benatar. Leonard Cohen, Peter, Paul and Mary, Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits are regulars on her CD player.

Not exactly typical for a 23-year-old. But Richards isn’t your average young singer trying to make it. She’s performed at more than 100 venues around the Northwest and California, including the Rose Festival, the Washington County Fair and San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury Street Fair.

She garners praise as she goes. In a 2005 Portland Tribune article, KINK FM deejay Kevin Welch said he was “surprised at the talent that came out of this gal, not even knowing who she was. It came out of nowhere.”

Maybe it grew out of learning songs from her father and grandfather before hearing them anywhere else. Her grandfather was part of the legendary country harmony group, The Sons of the Pioneers. Her father performed at music festivals, trotting his 2-year-old daughter out on the stage to sing along with him.

She’d compete in festival and fair talent shows, singing “Rockin‘ Robin” and “Angel in the Morning” with no hint of stage fright.

When she was 12, she began to write her first songs and found a talent in crafting lyrics.

“I like to find an old topic and put a new spin on it,” she says. “I try not to write about things I don’t believe in. I try not to do those ‘poor me’ love songs, the ‘why’d you leave me’ songs.”

In her CD, “Not Always Sexy,” she hits on the dissonant notes of fading romance in the song “That Much to Me.”

I won’t hold my breath

for you to change your mind.

I won’t try to fix

Faults that aren’t mine.

I won’t try to stop you

When you go.

But I won’t stop loving you, no.

’Cause you mean that much to me.

Her voice, reminiscent of Joan Baez and Emmylou Harris, lilts softly on such songs, but watch out. It can also pack a punch, growling and purring in “Magnum 45,” a song Richards wrote about a woman who hunts down her one-night stand after he leaves her and kills him. “I couldn’t stand to watch him run,” she sings.

“Obviously, I’ve never killed someone,” she says, laughing. “And I’ve never had a one-night stand, but it makes for a good song.”

One can imagine Richards’ popularity at her regular gigs at Paradise Harley in Tigard. She’s got just the right mix of sweet and sultry, country and rock, twang and smooth vibrato.

Her sense of humor wiggles its way into her songs too, as in “Cookies and Whiskey.”

Oh, cookies and whiskey

Donuts and beer.

I love you darlin‘

I wish you were here.

But I’ll drown my sorrows

in pastries and booze.

I’ve got a big ass and bad gas

and heartbroken blues.

“I was living in California at the time and there was this period where I seemed to be eating a lot of cookies and drinking a lot of Kahlua,” she says. “But nothing rhymes with Kahlua, so that’s how ‘Cookies and Whiskey’ came about.”

For Richards, writing lyrics is her “best form of counseling.”

And performing provides her the best reward. She felt that way May 25, when she packed out Mississippi Studios for a live performance.

“It seems like every show, there’ll be one person in the crowd who’s really into it, and if I can have one person like that at every show, it’s all worth it,” she says.

The girl who started out playing in Café Delirium and Trufflehunter restaurant is now a woman. She’s ready to give her dream everything she’s got.

In June she quit her day job as a receptionist at a mortgage company. Nothing much seems worth doing for Richards, except what comes naturally – making good music.

“If even one person comes up to me at the end of a show and tells me my music’s done something for them,” she says, “that’s what keeps me going.”
- Kari Hastings - The Gresham Outlook

Singer/songwriter Amanda Richards is well-prepared for musical stardom and credits the beauty of the MHCC campus for the inspiration it gave her to write many of her songs.

“Whenever I felt the urge to get away and write,” Richards said. “I’d climb into a tree and play the flute. I wrote a lot of songs in that tree.”

Richards, now 23, enrolled at MHCC when she was 17. Even though she had grown up in a musical family, Richards hadn’t thought seriously about being a performer. All that changed when she was offered a chance to perform at the MHCC College Center.

“This was my first real “gig” and the feedback I received from the audience was so positive, for the first time, I started to think about a singing career.”

This October, Richards released her second CD, headlined her first major concert and is embarking on her first tour this fall.

When Richards started at MHCC she knew that understanding the business side of a music career would be important, so along with music classes, she enrolled in the Business Management program.

One of the first projects assigned by her marketing teacher was to create a marketing campaign for a product, so Richards decided to design a plan to promote herself as a singer. She created a press kit, identified her target audience and made a detailed plan on getting exposure as a singer.

“The business classes taught me how to act as my own publicist, and to negotiate for my fees,” Richards said. “Eventually I will need to hire people to do that sort of work for me, and I feel confident I will be able to avoid the many rip-off artists in the field because I understand business.”

Richards also understands the technical aspects of music production because of the recording studio available with her music classes.

“I learned the vocabulary used by the sound engineers and that helped me better communicate what I wanted during the production of my two CDs,” Richards said.

Surprisingly, Richards claims the hardest classes she took at MHCC were her music classes.

“I’ve always just played music, so when it came to music theory, I felt lost,” Richards said. “It took a lot of discipline and practice to make it through the music classes, but I am a much better musician because of it.”

In the four years she attended MHCC, Richards is fairly sure she took just about every class offered at the college—including welding, astronomy, environmental science and philosophy.

“Every instructor I had opened my eyes to a different aspect of the world. I feel the education I received at MHCC expanded my views, made me more creative and brought a richer texture to my songs,” Richards said.

Having found inspiration in the trees and in the classroom, Richards says she will always hold a special place in her heart for MHCC.
- Janet Brayson - Mount Hood Community College's Winter Schedule (Oct 28, 2006)