← Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Amanda Shires on Takin' a Walk: Discovering Your Voice Through Emotional Healing and Songwriting Journeys-Replay
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- [00:01]
Buzz Knight
Taking a Walk welcome to Taking a Walk. I'm Buzz Knight and we are rounding out our Fresh Start 2026 theme week. We're celebrating artists who've had the courage to reinvent themselves and claim their own artistic identity. Amanda Shires has never been content to.
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Stay in one lane.
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As a fiddle virtuoso, she could have easily carved out a comfortable career as a sideman. But Amanda wanted more. She wanted her own voice, her own songs, her own truth.
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Her own.
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So she gave herself a fresh start, stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist and songwriter, crafting deeply personal albums that showcase not just her instrumental prowess, but her gift for raw, honest storytelling. A fresh start sometimes means finding your voice when you've been someone else's accompaniment. It means taking up space, speaking your truth, and refusing to be sidelined. In this conversation, Amanda shares her journey from accomplished musician to fearless songwriter and advocate, reminding us that reinvention isn't just about career, it's about claiming who you really are, especially in the face of personal adversity. Amanda Shires, a returning guest, is next on Taking a Walk.
- [01:19]
Amanda Shires
This is an I Heart podcast.
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- [03:01]
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- [03:42]
Buzz Knight
Taking a Walk hi Amanda, it's so nice to see you again.
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Amanda Shires
It's nice to be seen.
- [03:50]
Buzz Knight
And welcome to Taking a Walk. You know, since we last did our episode, I asked this opening question, so you're not going to get away with avoiding it. The, the question is, since we call the podcast Taking a Walk, is there somebody living or dead that you would like to take a walk with? And where would you take that walk with them?
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Amanda Shires
Okay, I would take a walk. I know I said Leonard Cohen last time. I can't say the same one.
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Buzz Knight
Well, I, I don't know why you. You could not say that.
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Amanda Shires
I'd take it. I'd take a walk with James Joyce and complain about, you know, some Ulysses and Finnegan's wake a little and see what the response would be.
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Buzz Knight
Complain.
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Amanda Shires
Yeah.
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Buzz Knight
What do you think he would. What would he say?
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Amanda Shires
I have no earthly idea.
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Buzz Knight
That's why we. You would take it, right?
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Amanda Shires
Exactly, exactly. Maybe we'd do the whole walk in Ireland even.
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Buzz Knight
Oh, that's magical. I think you guys would. Would have a good conversation.
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Amanda Shires
Yeah, we'd probably leave. Leave either after a fist fight and, or, you know, after a fist fight, then a beer or a pint or something.
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Buzz Knight
Congratulations on the new album Nobody's Girl. It's described as your most personal work to date, even though I feel like all of your work is deeply personal. What inspired you to take this, this direction and how did that writing process for you unfold for this time?
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Amanda Shires
Well, I think I'm Inspired by kind of what. I'm always inspired by what's going on in my life, but I wouldn't call it inspiration as. As much as needing to work through the storms in my life at the time. And the process was just the same as a process as. As it is when you're, like, not writing songs, when you're in the middle of. Of ruin and trying to figure out how to take what pieces persist and go forward. And so in doing that, then. And the time that it takes and the thinking that it takes and the reflection that it takes, I think there are a lot of emotions that come with that and a lot of feelings and a lot of instances where I was trying to work through and process my grief or my life through writing about it.
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Buzz Knight
And would you take breaks during that period? Would you, you know, steamroll through a song and then take a deep breath, start painting or do other things to creatively release? I mean, what. What is your sort of workflow process?
- [06:50]
Amanda Shires
Yeah, that's a. That's an interesting question. The workflow is I'm kind of a slow writer because. Well, that's just. Because that's how I am. I write slow, and I. I edit and I revise, and occasionally I'll write something fast. But sometimes when there's not enough words to describe what you're going through, that's when I take it out on the canvas. I feel like that. That's. That's, you know, I do abstract painting and, you know, gestural work because there's just some things that. That are just either better unsaid or easier to work out on a canvas where at the end you can like it or paint over it.
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Buzz Knight
Was there other stuff that was going on that you were inspired by, whether it be particular readings during that creative time or particular music by other artists during that time. Was there other stuff surrounding you as you were creating this new work?
- [07:51]
Amanda Shires
Maggie Smith's book, you could make this Place Beautiful. I was reading that book, and just the. The beautiful way that she shared her experience and her feelings made me feel encouraged. Well, I mean, whether she knows it or not, she encouraged me to share my own experiences and. And what I'd been going through. There's also Glennon Doyle. We can do hard things. And I got super into a new hobby called backgammon.
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Buzz Knight
Aha.
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Amanda Shires
Yeah. And I'm looking for anybody I can find to play with. I just really love it. I joined the Nashville Backgammon association, and I'm not very good yet, but I will be one day Maybe is there.
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Buzz Knight
Like a special card carrying membership that you get or.
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Amanda Shires
I think you just kind of get to say that it's.
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Buzz Knight
Well, everyone is, you know, these days bragging about pickleball. So I think this is. Sounds better to me. Doesn't it to you?
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Amanda Shires
It does. And I, you know, I tried a lot of things over the past couple of years to find things that I like to do outside of gardening and making art. And I tried pickleball. And I'm. I am like a giraffe, a baby giraffe on roller skates when I do anything like that. I mean, they just rolled their eyes a lot. They were like, didn't. Haven't you ever played tennis? I was like, no, there was tennis in Lubbock, Texas.
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Buzz Knight
Was there music from other artists during this creative period for Nobody's Girl that you were particularly listening to or was it sort of, you know, the same ebb and flow that you would always go through with, with music?
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Amanda Shires
Well, I, during this time, I was, I put on the d' Angelo and the vanguard Black Messiah a lot. Over and over. I just, the, the musicianship and. And the sounds, really, they took me somewhere else and it's just beautiful. And I also listen to Jack White's no Name a lot. Super loud, like, as loud as I could turn it up, especially that song, that's how I'm feeling right now, among others. But then I listened to you Want it Darker, Leonard Cohen's work over and over, because there's something beautiful about the, I don't know, the acceptance aspect of that record. Not, not the mortality part. That part's beautiful. But I wasn't listening to it for that. And I also just find his voice very calming.
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Buzz Knight
So who are the folks that you collaborated on with the other musicians on Nobody's Girl?
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Amanda Shires
Well, my producer friend, Lawrence Rothman, I thought.
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Buzz Knight
So I thought he would be there.
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Amanda Shires
We wrote this song away. It goes together one day in la. We were sitting around, um, in the studio and just started making up this little, little chord progression. And then I wrote all the words in probably about two hours. So there you have one fast song for me.
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Buzz Knight
It's an amazing song.
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Amanda Shires
Oh, thanks. I also worked with my longtime piano player, Peter Levin. We wrote a song called Lately Together. And it's on the record nobody's Girl. And that was a conversation we were having that day about, you know, how checking in with each other, how are you doing? And then we decided to write a song as a conversation about our conversation. And that's how Lately was Born.
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Buzz Knight
I like that. I like the, the flow of that. That's pretty neat. What was different for you, though, about recording this, this particular album, just in terms of the technical aspects, if anything.
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Amanda Shires
Different, there's always different things. I mean, this is this. When I went to do my second session of recording in la, Lawrence's air conditioner did not work. And it was the, the heat of summer, and it was the sweatiest I've ever been when I've recorded. And I definitely think that was difficult. You find, like, your little instruments slipping off your, you know, your hand slip and you're holding things slippery, and that was kind of different. And then we tried some new things. We tried some new things with the fiddle. We put the fiddle through a few. We kind of made like a sample of the fiddle a little bit in that way you could play it with the piano. I thought that was pretty fun. And then kind of, you know, make it sound less fiddly. It's nice to try new sounds when you're, you know, used to hearing it one way your whole life.
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Buzz Knight
Is that one of the, the many things that makes it special working with, with Lawrence?
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Amanda Shires
Yes. And another special thing about working with Lawrence is, is they bring a lot of energy and a lot of, A lot of positivity. Super encouraging to, to be around. And sometimes I would say the one thing that's not my favorite is that Lawrence will push me to write or record even more than I want to. And that happened this time. And in the end, it was the right thing to do. Even though I, I, you know, kicked and fussed and I, and I'm not easy when I get like that either. I get, I get kind of mean. But I did it. And then I was grateful and everything was resolved and I needed to get to those, those couple of songs, even if it meant writing a couple of trash songs. And it's the process, really. How you. The time it takes is the time it takes, you know, and I'm looking at this as my best friend.
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Buzz Knight
Amanda, I can't picture you being difficult in a process in the studio with, with Lawrence. I, I think you're being hard on yourself.
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Amanda Shires
Yeah. Kind of stubborn, you know, and, and sometimes I just, I, you know, I, I, I'm just like, I don't want to do that. You can't make me do something I don'. You know, and then it's like a, kind of, like a lot of back and forth and I finally do what they want me to do, because how could you not when you have A friendship. And, you know, I could go stand outside and stomp my feet or I could get to it. But sometimes you have to stand outside and stomp your feet and then get to it.
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Buzz Knight
But isn't some of it just playful jousting?
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Amanda Shires
Yes, sometimes it is. And sometimes in the studio, when Lawrence would. This has only happened, like, twice. Would push me, and then I was hot and sweaty, and then it was like, I'm also singing about my feelings, which is, you know, which a lot of times when you're in studio, it's the first time you've ever played the song. Ever. You've played it and you wrote it. You said, good, did that. Well, then you go in, and then the first time it's already uncomfortable. And then you add the Hot sweaties, and then you add the what's going on in the world. Everything feels uncomfortable, and then suddenly you're arguing about how you've. I guess you're lazy Shires. No.
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Buzz Knight
No. But I'll bet there's a fair amount of not only jousting, but. But laughter and. And. And good vibes as well in the studio.
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Amanda Shires
Yes, they're definitely. You're right. There is. Because I think we can. We tend to be able to turn anything into a joke, and that's kind of. That's. That's a beautiful thing. When you have jokes and inside jokes that are born out of ridiculousness.
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Buzz Knight
Is there anything in particular you could share that created some belly laughter?
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Amanda Shires
So there's this song, peace of Mind, and the chorus is like, oh, I hope you like. Oh, I hope you finally. You're missing peace of mind. In the beginning, I wrote you're missing Pete piece of pizza of mind. And I tried to sing it, and it was pizza. You're missing pizza mind. That was hilarious. Pizza. Like, we're doing that Little Caesars commercial. That was good. That was really.
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Buzz Knight
I love it.
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Amanda Shires
Yep. And that's pretty embarrassing. I don't know how I didn't catch that early on.
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Buzz Knight
Oh, I'd love to. I'd love to hear the outtake sometime.
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Amanda Shires
Missing piece of piece. So goofy.
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Buzz Knight
How do you balance vulnerability and artistry when you're sharing such personal stories through your music?
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Amanda Shires
This is just how I am. I. I'm just. I just have to be myself. And somehow I was just, you know, born like this. Or else I was, you know, a product of. Of my raising. I don't know the answer there, but when people, you know, are. Are open and honest with me, I feel. Feel like I. I just feel like I learn a lot or feel like there's a better connection with people. And it's not like I choose to be vulnerable or a person that tends to really answer the question. When you say, how are you? I know I should probably, like, sometimes say, I'm doing great. Let's keep walking. But I've just never been like that. I don't know if it's because. Could be because of my granddad. I'm not sure, because I asked him how he was a lot and he would always start talking about his health. And at the end of those long conversations, he was like, don't ever ask an old man about his health. I don't know why. But anyway, that's just how I am. I just ramble along like I'm doing now.
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Buzz Knight
It's, it's, it's not rambling. It's. It's a taking a walk interview. That's what it is. Do you share in the process of creating with others outside your, your, your circle in the studio, such as your, your mom? I mean, do you share what's going on with, with her in the process of creating new stuff?
- [17:52]
Amanda Shires
I do. I share with my mom probably more than I share with anybody. A lot of it is, is, you know, very much like how your kid wants to show you something that they're proud of or, or in my case, if I'm proud of it, yes, that's one thing. But if I want her opinion on it or thoughts on it, I feel like she's always been a safe person to, to share things with. And we've, we've been close and talk about everything. I'm lucky, but that's about all the, all as far as people I share it with. Lynn, I don't share like demos. On occasion, I'll listen to my own demo to make sure I like the words, but I don't, I don't listen to it at all for my own self. And I also like to share with my mom because she makes a lot of what I do possible, whether it be making snacks or helping me with my daughter or overall, like, backbone support. I feel like I got a lot of my backbone and I guess chat. I don't know what the word for this is, but like, where you feel like questions are challenging or curious about things and wanting to know how things work and why and, you know, challenging kind of norms, I guess.
- [19:11]
Buzz Knight
You know, since we, we last were together for the podcast, one thing that is really going crazy out there among many things has been, you know, things such as chat GPT. What's your take on AI and things like chat GPT?
- [19:33]
Amanda Shires
I mean it's, it's already here so it's a matter of, of going along with it or not. Kind of like how when we got trains and horses and Internet and things like that radio, then it, it's, it's a bit scary when you go deep and read like how, how what, you know, some people are saying about, about the future of humanity and things like that. But I think that there are more, more important things at, in the moment. Like yeah, keep working on that. But they're more probably important things to be thinking on and chat GPT in, in as far as the here and now. I mean it's both important but maybe use it to learn how to help other people. I guess. I'm not sure. It's hard to say. Oh, I don't like it because as much as I love Neil Young, I wish that, you know, he was more cool with streaming and stuff like that.
- [20:30]
Buzz Knight
So you're going to be hitting the road as always. Do you love the road as much as you always have?
- [20:40]
Amanda Shires
That's a good question. I am not sure. I haven't been on the road since October of 2023. Really. I've done a couple of one offs and I love to play live. I love to, to connect with folks that, you know, feel similarly to me and I love to, you know, see the landscape and all that. But I also do get nervous because it's, it's going to be, you know, I'm going to bring Mercy. My mom's going to bring Mercy out some and it's going to be a different scenario than it's been before. Not to say I'm not strong enough for that. I definitely am. So I don't really know. Like, I know I loved it before so how could I not love it again? We'll see. So far, I still love it.
- [21:25]
Buzz Knight
Different adjustments. You got different adjustments to make.
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Amanda Shires
Last time I was on the road, I loved it. Yeah, I don't know because I'm not on it.
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Buzz Knight
Are there any genres you haven't touched that you can envision touching creatively?
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Amanda Shires
Genres? Let's think I'm open to everything. You know, if, especially if somebody invited me to do something, I wouldn't just go, you know, hop into a death metal band. I would definitely need to lead the compadre there to invite me and you know, work something out.
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Buzz Knight
A death metal band? Did you still.
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Amanda Shires
Or whatever. Whatever. I'll try anything seven or eight times.
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Buzz Knight
I love, I love hearing Amanda Shire say death metal band. There's just something, there's an irony to that. I don't know.
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Amanda Shires
I mean, who doesn't want to hear death metal fiddle?
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Buzz Knight
That's right. You got that right. Are there lessons from the past year that found their way into your music intentionally or unintentionally?
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Amanda Shires
That's a good lessons. Intentional or unintentional? Well, I did take a jiu jitsu class and, and I signed up for it because I was trying to figure out a way to get cuddles. And at the end of the class I asked if next time I could just be the person they demonstrated on and the guy said no and kicked me out. And that lesson I learned there was, if you're going to sign up for a new thing to do, make sure you're there to try and do that thing.
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Buzz Knight
They kicked you out really?
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Amanda Shires
Well, they kind of just said it, you know, they didn't find it as amusing as I did.
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Buzz Knight
They discouraged you from. From attending further. How's that?
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Amanda Shires
Yeah, they wanted to meet it like, you know, really participate and probably get, you know, the room kind of smelled anyway. It wasn't really set up for cuddling. Other things I learned are, I guess that resilience isn't, you know, glamorous or, or pretty. It's just you get your pieces and you keep on going. Also learned that I'm tougher than I think I am.
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Buzz Knight
Any advice you'd give to others. Navigating transitions.
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Amanda Shires
You don't have to figure it all out and you don't have to figure it all out all at once or any of it all at once. You just gotta figure out what you can and keep on. You don't have to figure it all out in one day.
- [23:59]
Buzz Knight
Take your time, Amanda. I adore you. Thank you for being on again. Taking a Walk and congrats on the new music and all the best always to you.
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Amanda Shires
Awesome. Thank you.
- [24:13]
Taking a Walk Outro Voice
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends friends and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts.
- [24:32]
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- [27:22]
Amanda Shires
This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human.