Feautured Songbay Artist: Amanda Palasciano

 

Another brilliant lyricist finds Songbay 

This week, we talk to Amanda Palasciano,  a Professional subscriber to Songbay. Already an established writer and lyricist, she is now busy in Nashville!

 

“How did you get in to songwriting/lyric writing?”

 

My grandfather—who I never met—was a “crooner” in New York. He had an album out, or ’45’ as it was known in the day (I just snagged that album on Ebay!) My Dad also sang, he had my grandfather’s voice, but never used it to ‘make it’ in California as he’d planned – he was too busy painting Zeppelin murals on walls around New Jersey! My mom wrote lyrics and poems and my sister wallpapered our house with 80’s hair band posters. Me?, I was the kid guessing the Casey Kasem Top 40 every week in the back of the car on family roadtrips,,,

All this, led me to a music PR job in Los Angeles at 22, where I got to work with legends like George Clinton and the Moody Blues. I spent years wearing many hats in the music business and even got to work as an assistant one summer for Matt Serletic in studio with Matchbox Twenty.

That said, the thing I always loved most, was writing,,,

When the music industry’s sky was falling and Napster and Limewire hijacked the business that once was, I began writing whatever I could get my hands on. Everything from album reviews to YA novels to psychological thriller screenplays. I started making money writing copy for the ad business everywhere from Madison Avenue, NYC to Venice Beach. But there was always something romantic about writing songs in Nashville.

 

I just moved to Nashville this past summer (after a long story post Route 91,,) and tried my hand at it utilizing nothing about songwriting but everything I knew about writing in general. My first song, Maine, took an honourable mention in the November/December American Songwriter magazine and I thought, “Maybe I’m finally in the right place.” Roseanne Cash is on the cover and I can’t explain what it’s like to have your name squeezed in between pages with someone like that on the front.

 

“Favorite artists and why?”

 

My favorite artist, unequivocally, is Eric Church. His music, his voice, his writing and his devil-may-care ways have greatly impacted my life. I even have a tattoo of the opening notes to ‘Record Year’!  I’ve seen him perform numerous times across five states. Without doubt, he brings his ‘A game’ to every word of every song of every show (This coming from someone who has seen thousands of shows across all genres, having already worked extensively in the music business). Performance aside, most die hard Chief fans love him for his attitude.

 

From an artist’s perspective, the biggest challenges are not the rejections but having the tenacity to recover from them, to pick yourself up then choose to do it all over again, every single morning, if necessary. The choice to become an artist means giving up a ‘conventional life’, the life everyone else seems to have. Sadly for many, an artist’s life offers little in return, other than a long series of “almosts” and dead ends, not helped by the industry nepotism that seems to show up all too frequently. When it feels like your work is only seeing the inside of a wastebasket because it’s unsolicited and you don’t have a famous uncle getting you in the door,,,, What Eric Church reminds me of everyday, is that it isn’t for the glory or the accolades or the money you make. That’s not what any of us get in this business for and that’s not what defines success. He has bucked industry norms and conventional label politics from day one and that is the ‘North Star’ for me. It’s how I remember to write, as if no one’s reading (so who cares). My finished product is for me, it isn’t about them anyway.

 

“Your musical influences?”

 

Other influences include: Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Jewel, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Seger, Chris Stapleton, The Doors, Florence and the Machine, The Killers, Lynard Skynard, CCR, Maren Morris, Prince, Tom Petty…

 

“Thoughts about Songbay?”

 

I’m new to Songbay but I found it to be a refreshing change of pace from the red taped cul-de-sacs that you can find running around in this industry. I’m not afforded the opportunity right now to find artists to collaborate with and get the music made, but I’d still like my lyrics to see the light of day beyond a contest. There is a lot of freedom in licensing your own work and words, As a platform, it’s super intuitive for newcomers to do that. I assume it’s a godsend for buyers as well. So far, I’m a fan!

An example of Amanda’s lyrics at Songbay:

 

‘Send My Best’ by Amanda Palasciano, published and available for purchase at Songbay

If you would like to learn more about Amanda, take a look at her artist page on Songbay. Have a read of  her brilliant lyrics and feel free to get in touch with her for any writing requests and collaboration offers: 

Amanda Palasciano Artist Page at Songbay >>

or website: www.AuthorAmanda.com