Name: Amanda Lindsay Marshall
Born on: Tuesday, August 29, 1972
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Parents: Doug and Gencie Marshall



Amanda started her singing history at the early age of 3 when her parents enrolled her in the toddlers program at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. But by her mid teens she new that it was time to persue something different than the classic music venue that she was used to.


She was introduced to jazz music by a friend of hers, which would eventually lead to a meeting with Ella Fitzgerald after a concert in Toronto.


Marshall was only 17 when she was discovered by bluesman Jeff Healey. That led to the launch of Amanda's own professional career. Healey encouraged her to try her luck at an open-mike night at a Toronto club where he would be hanging out the next night. Seventeen-year-old Amanda got her father to accompany her to the club, and Healey played guitar with her when she sang. Within 4 months she formed a band and opened for Jeff Healey on his Canadian tour, without a record.


In 1994, Amanda Marshall signed with Sony Music Canada After walking out of a deal with Columbia Records. Released in Canada, October 1995 the First two singles, "Let It Rain" and "Birmingham" both went Top Ten. By March 1996 her album went Platinum with sales of more than 100,000 copies


The album has gone on to spawn 6 hit singles (Let It Rain, Birmingham, Beautiful Goodbye, Dark Horse, Fall From Grace and Sitting On Top Of The World) across Canada. Also, her success has managed her to travel a lot. She's done a tour with Tom Cochrane, a headlining tour across Australia, Europe and Japan; and a sold out headlining tour of Canada in the Spring of 97.


Her new album "Everybody's got a story" has done very well. And she's been nominated for 2 Junos: 'Best Single' for "Everybody's Got A Story" and one for 'Best Artist.'


The theme of the title track, and indeed the entire record, is the simple notion that yes, everybody does have a story, one that often lies beneath the surface persona. It was an idea Marshall came up with in a conversation with the record's producer and co-writer Billy Mann.


Her music is a pop-rock blend with soft edges, occasional hard vocals, and a heartfelt message or two thrown in (more than once she has sung of the prejudice she faced by being the child of a mixed marriage). Her appeal reached well beyond the mosh pit crowd, and the airplay she got crossed a number of radio formats.

Facts:

*Left handed
*Only child
*Amanda & her family eat black eyed peas & rice
at midnight on New Years Eve, for good luck.
*Favourite color - Blue
*Favourite food - Shrimp curry