Amanda Jordan is a fast-rising talent within the country music scene and since making the move from her native home in Canada to the home of country; Nashville the stunning vocalist has become one of the major voices in the burgeoning scene.
With the release of her brand new single ‘Driving In The Dark’, she is racking up rave reviews and streaming numbers and as we move into 2020, Amanda Jordan is quickly becoming the name on everyone’s lips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=946jD0NSTYo
Here we chat exclusively to Amanda to discuss her new music, moving to Nashville and future plans:
You recently moved from Canada to Nashville, how are you finding the atmosphere in the city?
People are very friendly in Nashville. There is a high bar of competition, but everyone is willing to pull you up by your boots. It’s kind of like one big musical family. Everyone wants to talk music with you – it could be your bartender, people in the elevator, or at the grocery store – so it’s an inspiring place to live and breathe music.
Do you feel the move has helped your music move forward within the industry?
It absolutely has! Nashville is the place to be if you want to pursue country music. In my case, I have improved so much in terms of my writing and performing. I’m playing a lot of rounds and also going to a lot of shows. I might not feel that I have changed that much, but others have noticed my progress, so it’s definitely made a difference. In addition to that, I’ve made a lot of connections in the industry, which are always valuable.
What was the writing process like for your latest release?
The writing process was a lot of fun. I went to the writing room with Jason Matthews and Phil Barton and told them the hook that I wanted for the song. Phil started playing beats on his laptop and we just started throwing out melodies until something stuck. We realized we wanted “Driving in the Dark” to be a metaphor about a relationship – where you don’t know where it’s going, but you’re riding high on the feeling. Once we had that, we had the song done in three hours. From there, we went to Phil’s studio and we did a song demo, which went to my producer Jason Barry in Canada.
What’s the inspiration behind the lyrics?
Like the song says, I was driving in the dark! I was with my twin brother on my first trip to Nashville. We did the long drive from Ottawa, Canada, which works out to about 17 hours and Thomas brought up the reasons why he loves driving at night. I guess that stuck with me as the original hook, but as I mentioned about the writing process, it came to be a metaphor for the beginning of a relationship.
You’ve also recently shared the official music video, what was the inspiration behind the treatment?
We wanted to keep things fun and light and capture the excitement of being in love. To do that, we used everything that was close by and within a 5-mile radius of my house – filming at the beach, the bridge, the hammock in my backyard, and also, the sunset. It was nice to go home and shoot these scenes where I grew up. I love how it all turned out!
What are you hoping fans take away from the song and video?
I hope that they’re able to relate to the meaning behind the song, sing along and have fun with it. It’s carefree, but I feel like it’s true and relatable for a lot of relationships. I hope that people will listen to it and reflect back on their own experiences when they were young and free and that it reminds them of a passionate relationship – a wild love that they can go back in time to. Everyone’s had those crazy relationships where you didn’t think of the future because you were so in the moment.
Do you have any plans to release an LP soon?
Yes! I want to release an EP in the summer of 2020. Right now, I’m choosing and writing songs for that. Some of the songs on this EP will be deeper lyrically, in terms of meaning and messaging.
Can we expect to see you on tour soon?
As “Driving in the Dark” just got released to Canadian radio, I’m supporting that with a radio tour along with two release shows in Ottawa and Toronto! I also recently played at the Wild West Songwriters Festival in Deadwood, South Dakota. It was amazing – I got to meet and play along with major hit writers like Danny Myrick, Brandon Jane, and Marc Beeson. We did a couple of rounds and at the end, there was a big jam where every writer played a cover song for about 700 people with a full band.
What does the rest of 2019 look like for you?
The rest of 2019 will involve a lot of writing. I have a number of writes lined up back in Nashville with Emma-Lee, Ty Graham, and a good friend of mine, Carly Paige!
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Photo credit: Rob Waymen