“Moving On” is the debut single from Amanda Fawn. The track has a feel similar to First Aid Kit and Amanda has been compared to Sarah Jarosz, Nanci Griffith, Sara Watkins I’m With Her and Anais Mitchell.
Amanda Fawn is a Philadelphia-born, Irish-grown musician, songwriter and actor. Gifted a violin by her parents at the age of 10, Amanda has always been playing music and writing songs. Later in life, Amanda picked up a mandolin and finally discovered the heart to the sound of her songs. Her music is influenced by American folk musicians, as well as half a lifetime of living on the island of Ireland, experiencing the sounds and community of traditional Irish music. Amanda’s songs get to the heart of the matter with a gritty, hopeful honesty.
“Moving On” was recorded at Analogue Catalogue studios, a gorgeous music-making paradise nestled in the countryside outside Rathfriland in County Down, owned by Julie McCarlnon. Amanda first learned of this studio when she did “Soft Gut Song Camp” there, a songwriting weekend run by Ciaran Lavery & Nikki Macrae. The track was produced by Carl Small. It was her first time recording her own track, and Carl was brilliant in guiding her along the way whilst also leaving plenty of space for her to find her voice and make her sound. The super talented guys that played with her added the details and layers to flesh out the song. She recalls telling James, her drummer, that she needed the drums to sound “leafy”. The “leafy drums” then laid a baseline for the folk feel that she wanted.
Tim Pentland (guitar and vocals) and Amanda started playing together with a project called “Seaforde Sessions”. They did four live recordings together, three covers and one original, in Autumn 2022, that they then released on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Tim and Amanda have continued to play together, and a lot of the structure of “Moving On” is down to his brilliant musicianship.