Dexter grad finds success in merging lyrics & the law Monday, July 2, 2007 By NOREEN HYSLOP Special Projects Editor Amanda Walker is adept at many things. She is an accomplished artist and as such, she attended Southeast Missouri State University after graduating from Dexter High School in 1997 to pursue a degree in art education. While at SEMO, she also stayed busy playing tennis for the Otahkians. Along the way, however, Amanda reconsidered her future and wished to pursue law. She completed her degree at SEMO and earned a degree in Art Education, qualifying her to teach art to students from kindergarten age through high school. At the same time, she earned a minor in Political Science. And yet, having accomplished all of that, she applied and was accepted at Tulane in New Orleans where she would move to study law. And then came Katrina and its wrath. While her personal possessions in the apartment where she lived were spared, the structure of the building was rendered inhabitable after the storm. Amanda came back to Missouri and completed the semester at Mizzou in Columbia, but eventually trekked back to New Orleans to complete her degree there. "I spent a few weeks sofa-hopping with friends until I rented an apartment in the French Quarter for a short time." "It was scary and tough trying to finish to law school under those circumstances," she recalled. Walker is, among many other things, an eternal optimist and so it is no surprise that she found good even in the aftermath of Katrina, and that positive outlook provided her with not only another challenge, but possibly a new career as well. "Living on student loans in the French Quarter wasn't making ends meet," she explained, especially during the post-Katrina inflation." "So, I took a job playing piano and singing four nights a week at Phillip Chan's Asian Cajun Bistro." "So," she said, "you could say that I was forced into the music scene by the hurricane." The bistro was housed in the Quarter and was frequented by the owner and producer of a New Orleans-based record label. The label is called Rabadash Records and its owner is John Autin. As luck would have it, Autin heard Walker sing and liked what he heard. "He listened to me play a couple of times and offered me an opportunity to make a record with his label." The rest, as they say, is history. Walker's self-titled CD was produced in early 2007 and has received rave reviews within the music industry. It consists of 14 vocals, with lyrics and piano accompaniment exclusively Walker's. Reviews have come from as far away as the West Coast, but within the French Quarter where she performed to keep her head above water (literally at times), comes approval from several of the Quarter's entertainment guides. One reads: "This promising debut gives the impression of a young artist from a small Missouri town with her eyes open wide to a world of exploration, basking in the wonder of it all and absorbing each and every one of life's distinctive episodes." Another review calls the CD "an intimate and bewitching collection." Yet another refers to Walker as possessing "a quality of innocence, of diary writing put to music." It further states, "Her voice is soft and sweet as she journeys through emotional landscapes," and "She certainly is a talented new artist with her own perspective and charms, and this first release serves well as an introduction to Walker and what she is all about." To label Amanda Walker as versatile is an understatement of great proportions. With all the excitement and challenges ahead within the music industry, she is also a lawyer, having completed her degree at Tulane. She is currently busy studying for the Missouri bar which she will take late this summer. Her ultimate goal? To practice entertainment law while enjoying a second career in the field she has always loved, music. Few could blend the two as well as Amanda Walker.

Amanda Walker Amanda Walker Rabadash By Ruby Masters Offbeat Magazine This debut album of original songs by songwriter/performer Amanda Walker has a quality of innocence, of diary writing put to music. Her voice is soft and sweet as she journeys through emotional landscapes filled with big dreams, lessons learned from love and growing pains. Walker has good intentions and the music holds a pretty promise that she sincerely keeps song after song. She accompanies herself on the piano and her playing is more than adequate, but the choice to fly solo without any other instruments restrains the potential of the songs. “7000 Reasons” breaks out of the quiet of the rest of the album and suggests that a full-on version with a band could be a good next step for Walker. She certainly is a talented new artist with her own perspective and charms, and this first release serves well as an introduction to Walker and what she is all about.

Review from Where Y'at's Best of New Orleans issue: From the mold of Anna Nalick and Alanis Morrissette comes the debut cd from Amanda Walker, a collection of more than a dozen heartfelt tracks. With the simplicity of the instrumentation, which consists of merely piano and vocals, one might falsely presume that this offering lacks variety. Like all talented singer/ songwriters of the genre, Walker leaves the door to her heart ajar and lets her listeners peer inside, exposing her flaws, joys, inspirations, and heartaches. The diversity, therefore, comes from the multiplicity of perspectives through which we view her existance through these engaging vignettes. This promising debut gives the impression of a young artist from a small Missouri town with her eyes open wide to a world of exploration, basking in the wonder of it all and absorbing each and every one of life's distinctive episodes. - Craig Cortello

sweeeeeeeeeeet. Yes I'm the producer and I don't usually comment on my own work. Producing this CD was just like taking a snapshot of the most beautiful sunset you've ever seen. Amanda's budding talent is right here on this disk. Just she and a piano, nothing in the way. Just experience the trip with her. Great songs, great voice. Just Sweeeeeet!!!!!!!!!