CLN Insider: Amanda Kate

Sharing her heart in the debut solo, Gypsy, Amanda Kate says “the album wasn’t created as a debut. It was meant to be a body of work I wanted to complete of songs my mom and I wrote together throughout her life. It’s a time capsule of our art and music that happened to snowball into something much bigger.” After her mother passed away, Gypsy became a dream that Amanda owed to herself to complete. “I wanted to let my mom’s legacy live on through me and my music. My mother was a songwriter and performer, writing over 2000 songs. “I knew my time was limited with her, which made it so much more special to have her see the project come to fruition from start to finish.”

Gypsy boasts a more traditional style of country, but it is true to who Amanda is as a singer and writer. She states, “You do music because it’s what you love and who you are, not because you want a spotlight.” Recently releasing the video to her song “Healing When I Ride,” Amanda shares that it was written from the standpoint of her mom, who at the time had been diagnosed with cancer. “She loved to ride. It was her version of therapy through all the cancer treatments. She made a point to get on her horse every day and found healing emotionally through that. It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. It’s unique because people who have horses understand the healing they provide. I’ve gotten messages from people around the world expressing their appreciation of the lyrics and sharing their own stories.”

In addition to Gypsy, Amanda has been working on other meaningful projects, one in particular with Shenandoah lead singer, Marty Raybon. Creating their own version of “Old Rugged Cross”, she says that how it came about was truly special. After sharing her desire to sing with Raybon, Amanda’s producer suggested they simply reach out to him and see what happens. To her surprise, Marty was on-board and excited to collaborate. Amanda notes that she was truly blessed to work with such an incredible person on a song that means so much to many.

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