Amanda Cevallos

I WORKED WITH AMANDA AND HER BAND FOR A NEW TV SERIES ON THE OVATION NETWORK, SHE WAS AMAZING! AMANDA’S SINGING WAS AWESOME AND THE BAND SOUNDED GREAT, SHE ALSO HELPED COORDINATE THE SHOOT WHICH WAS SO MUCH HELP. IF YOU EVER HAVE THE CHANCE TO A PERFORMANCE OF AMANDA’S PLEASE MAKE THE EFFORT TO GO SEE. IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT TO A PERFORMANCE GO BUY HER NEW CD! - Swaga, Producer of “A Chance To Dance” on The Ovation Channel - The Ovation Channel

AMANDA CEVALLOS' USE OF IMAGERY IN HER SONGS PAINTS SOME DUSTY, COMPELLING, BACK ROAD PICTURES IN MY MIND. IT WAS FUN TO PLAY GUITAR TO HER MUSIC IN THE STUDIO. JAMES HYLAND, HER PRODUCER, AND HER WERE VERY FOCUSED AND COMMITTED TO THEIR VISION. - Stephen Doster, Musician/Producer - web

THIS IS RETRO, BARROOM TWANG AND CEVALLOS HAS THE VOICE FOR IT, A HIGH, CLEAR YEARNING VOICE WITH A LITTLE HOOK ON THE END.

- Chris Jorgensen - The Billings Gazette - The Billings Gazette

The best country music always has good punchlines, and on Amanda Cevallos' new album, I'll Never Honky Tonk You, there's no shortage of play on words. Titles like "He Won't Stop Leavin' Me Alone" and "Texas Hold Him" embrace that tradition, along with the practice of mentioning Johnny Cash and singing about honky tonks—though Cevallos is the first singer I've heard use "honky tonk" as an action that you do to someone.

The former Missoulian and current Austin musician struts the fine line between classic—though totally loveable—tropes and original storylines. "Jose Guadalupe" is a sweet and dark song, full of aching pedal steel, about Cevallos' tumultuous relationship with her father. She says he always gave such good advice, but she'd rather see him in jail alive. In that one and "Good For Nothing But Each Other" pained twangs punctuate her clear vocals. She's got a pretty voice but, like Loretta Lynn, you can hear in the way her vocals crack in all the right places that life's been a little rough.

Sassiness becomes her in the title track, but the biggest hit on her album has to be "Read My Hips Swayin' Goodbye" in which she taunts her former lover by singing, "This is what leavin' you looks like from behind," as he watches her walk away. This is one of the best original honky-tonk albums I've heard in a long time, and Cevallos' return to Missoula for the release makes it all the more exciting. - The Missoula Independent