Amanda Shires Returns to Chattanooga for Wednesday Show
Courtesy: Michael Schmelling
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Americana artist and fiddle player Amanda Shires is back in Chattanooga Wednesday night for a show at Memorial Auditorium.
She’s opening for the Head and the Heart if you missed her at Riverbend Festival over the summer.
Shires is no stranger to our area. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Sewanee: The University of the South.
The singer/songwriter talked to News 12 about what we can expect during her performance Wednesday night.
“Songs from ‘Take It Like A Man,’ songs from ‘Loving You,’ the project I did with Willie Nelson’s sister, Bobbie Nelson, before she passed away, and just a lot of fiddle solos. That’s what my big plan is this time,” Shires said. “If you’ve been missing fiddle in your life, this is the time for you.”
The ‘Loving You’ album came out in June.
“[Bobbie] played how she lived, and that was with heart, and with all of her feelings. She put her whole self into it, and it was very inspiring,” Shires said. “I’m just grateful that we got to do what we did.”
Willie Nelson even appears on the record.
“[Willie]’s masterful on the guitar, and I’ve always respected that,” she said.
Shires says she’ll also join the Head and the Heart for a song during their set, Wednesday.
Shires is not only a successful solo artist, but she’s also a member of her husband Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit.
She even founded The Highwomen – performing alongside Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, and Natalie Hemby.
Their last album, “The Highwomen,” came out in 2019.
Shires says the group is now talking about new music.
“I am always working on stuff – music and words,” she said. “Some of us Highwomen have been talking about that sort of thing too. Definitely things are in the works, but it’s a thing that you don’t want to talk about too much, because you don’t want to put pressure on the actual work and art itself, you know, just want to keep it as organic as possible without letting any kind of influence come in that you might not need in.”
For now, you can still get tickets to see Shires perform solo on stage here.
