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The Nash New Artist Interview: Amanda Kate
Amanda Kate’s influences range from Faith Hill to Carrie Underwood; she even says that Wynonna Judd was practically in the car when she was riding with her mom. Her biggest inspiration though came from inside her own house.“I would say my biggest influence was my mom. My mom was also a singer-songwriter,” Kate tells us.
Kate grew up in New Mexico and listened to country music from the ‘90s which eventually turned into her own source of motivation within her own sound. “The soundtrack that’s going on in the back of my head most of the time is that super twangy, ‘90s country,” she explains. Her mother was singer Kathy Wright and Kate grew up watching her perform; she was even put on stage with her mom while she performed at one-month-old. Pursuing music was nearly a rite of passage for Kate as she states confidently, “I knew music was gonna be it for me.
Over the past few years, Kate has released original music and starred on the Jimmy Fallon-produced show Clash of Cover Bands with her Carrie Underwood tribute band. “I’ve been doing this professionally since I was 14, you know, I’m 34 now, it’s been a long time,” she exclaims. “But now, there’s just been some incredible opportunities that I think if you would’ve told me at 24, ‘You’re gonna have to wait another 10 years before something happens,’ I would’ve been like, ‘Yeah right, I’m quitting.’ But I’m so happy that I’ve stuck with it and that the dream is still very much alive and I get to do what I do.”
In 2019, she put out a full-length record titled TIME that came from the feelings of life she was processing after her mother’s lung cancer diagnosis. The title and meaning of the record as a whole are circled around taking advantage of each day we have. But now, Kate is ready to begin a new chapter as an artist. “My last album was very personal, it was dedicated to my relationship with my mom,” Kate tells us. “The album TIME was very much for me. It was very much for my mom. And this EP, I wanted something that could be for the listener.”
The lead single for the new EP that’s set to be released next month is the sassy and hot-tempered track titled, “Walk.” The song was sent to Kate by Kimberly Kelly: one of the writers. “I wanted something every girl could listen to, and every girl has that heartbreak story or that girl power song. And that’s what ‘Walk’ was for me,” she shares. “At the end of the day, if he’s not treating you right, that’s what you’re gonna do, you’re gonna walk. You don’t stick it out You don’t stay with someone who doesn’t deserve you. You move on.” “Walk” features standout twangy vocals from Kate as well as an electric instrumental display.
Her latest single for the project contrasts greatly with “Walk.” “Little I Got” was written by superstar Maren Morris alongside Jabe Beyer and Brett Tyler, the producer of Kate’s entire EP. “There are certain songs that when you hear them, you’re like, ‘I feel like I could have written this,’” she exclaims. “And that was one of those. It talks about all the things you appreciate in your life.” When speaking about “Little I Got,” she reflects on her four-year-old daughter as she explains, “I think being a mom, it gives you a whole new perspective on life and what’s important.” The track has a grounding message with lyrics like, “You got a big house up on a hill / I got an airstream trailer / The frigid is cold and the coffee is hot / I got a lot with the little I got.”
The full EP is set to come out on December 3rd. It features songs written by Kate as well as songs that she handpicked. “It was just a matter of picking the ones that said what I wanted to say. That’s what we did,” she tells us. It features songs like “Little Girl” that she wrote with her friends and dedicated to her daughter. There’s also a love song that listeners can look forward to titled “Baby It’s You,” that acts like a cowboy cha cha; every time Kate hears it, she images dancers in a ballroom. “I want people to connect with the songs,” she says. “That’s my goal every time we release new music, that it touches somebody in some way.”
Tune in to “Clash of the Cover Bands” which airs on Wednesdays at 9:30 pm ET/PT on E!
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