Amanda Shires voice is distinctly her own. Her Texas twang and fetching vibrato can dance playfully around a melody or haunt a line like a mournful ghost and she deftly employs her fiddle, ukulele and even whistling skills to similar effect. The resulting sound is a beautiful but woozily surrealistic swoon — as well befits an artist who cites Leonard Cohen and alt-country dark horse Richard Buckner as two of her biggest musical influences. Texas Music Magazine has named Amanda as its 2011 Artist Of The Year.
“A young female heir to the godfather of strange, Mr. Tom Waits…or the weird young niece of Dolly Parton.” Americana UK