Amanda Shires - Carrying Lightning

2011 release from the Lubbock, Texas-based singer/songwriter/fiddler. Amanda Shires is blessed with a singular, literate songwriting style and a crystalline, distinct voice that hints at her Lubbock roots. Much like Neko Case's Blacklisted and Lucinda Williams' Happy Woman Blues, Carrying Lightning is the work of an artist gaining control of her considerable talents and funneling them into a cohesive whole. From playing fiddle in the Texas Playboys at the precocious age of 15 to playing with Gwyneth Paltrow in Country Strong just this year, Shires displays the kind of talent that has garnered her praise from artists like Justin Townes Earle, DeVotchKa and Jason Isbell.

1) Swimmer Dreams Don't Keep
2) Ghostbird
3) When You Need a Train It Never Comes
4) She Let Go of Her Kite
5) Love Be a Bird
6) Shake the Walls
7) Detroit or Buffalo
8) Slow Gin
9) Kudzu
10) Bees in the Shed
11) Lovesick I Remain
12) Swmmer Dreams Don't Keep (Instrumental)