Bio

Vera Black (formerly Amanda Baker) is best described as Folk/Soul/Rock, Modern Woodstock that she blends into real music, touching on real issues. She has been described as having the vocal beauty of Joni Mitchell, the soul of Joss Stone, but the bite of Janis Joplin. Vera Black is distinguished by her powerful soul/blues voice, her unique song writing style, thought provoking lyrics and inspirational melodies. She sings about her life and experiences with maturity, depth and soul. Vera Black has been a Sydney based artist for the last 5 years and is about to make the move to the U.S. in June 2011. Vera started writing songs some 15 years ago in her hometown of Perth WA. She has gone from strength to strength since then, winning 'Best Live Act' at the 2007 Musicoz Awards and being named as the woman to watch. Ms. Black has been making her mark on an international scale since returning from her first US Tour and winning the 'Show Me the Music' Songwriting Contest in Nashville December 2010, and also winning 'Best Music Video' for her song 'Addictions', at the 2007 Digifestival in Florence. Ms. Black has recently written a song for the Australian feature film 'The Waiting City' filmed in India. The song 'The Beauty of Life' is performed by Isabel Lucas and Joel Edgerton who play musicians in the film, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. Her lyrics both witty and catchy profess the comments of a girl who doesn’t stumble on her words and declares to the world “I’m not here to be a princess, I’m here to be the Queen”,taken from the title track of her EP, The Queen. This is the slogan on her t-shirts, of which won ‘Best Swag’ at the IMA’s(USA). In 2005, Vera spent 10 months in Sydney writing and recording her debut album 'SUPERSTITIOUS WOMAN'. The album fuses her blues, rock, gospel influences into an original, contemporary, groundbreaking sound. Each song has it's own unique style and story, and demonstrates her versatility and range as a vocal artist and writer. The cover of her debut album shot by her brother cinematographer Denson Baker ACS won ‘Best Album Art’ photography at the IMA’s(USA). Ms. Black Released 'The Queen' in 2008, a fully produced collection of songs produced by 3 different producers and co-produced by Vera herself. Her 3rd release also in 2008 was 'The Stagedoor Sessions' a live album recorded with her of her and her 6 piece band, capturing what they do best ‘playing live’. Ms. Black has performed in the Led Zeppelin tribute tour around NSW with some so Australia’s best musicians & vocalists. Digifestival Jury Member, Roli Mosimann (Producer of Faith No More, Smashing Pumpkins) said, “Vera Black impressed me most with her abilities and rare talent of transporting the emotional content of her music straight to the heart, without filters or distractions. She is not just singing a great song about a difficult subject, she is telling a story and lets you feel and participate in what it all means to her in a way only great musicians can do. Beware! A truly addictive voice.” The girl is soon to become one of the truly iconic voices of Australia, and a musical career that will last her lifetime and beyond…… Instrumentation Amanda Baker- Vocals and Acoustic Guitar Kristan Linehan - Keys and Vocals Kirk Olsen - Drums Rodrigo Machado - Bass Guitar Luke Bourne - Electric Guitar/ Percussion Giles Brunning- Lead Guitar Dayana Linehan - Backing Vocals Discography 2010 - WINNNER 'Show Me The Music Songwriting Comp. all expenses paid trip to Nashville to Record @ Omni Sounds Studio with World renowned Producer 'Steve Tveit' (Taylor Swift) 2010 -SEPT OCT- 'FOLLOW ME TOUR' NATIONAL USA TOUR 2010 - Performed Live On Treble Clef KPC Radio L.A. 2010 - Released 'THE FOOL' Music Video 2010 - Received airplay on 11 or more Online Radio Stations 2009 - Released new single 'MUST BE SOMETHING' and 'The Fool' 2008- Amanda released 2 EP's back to back. One being a live recording with her 6 piece in the studio. STAGE DOOR SESSIONS THE QUEEN 2008- The Queen Tour - Australia 2007- Released Single 'The Queen' 2006-Released her Debut Album 'Superstitious Woman' Links http://www.myspace.com/amandabakersmusic Facebook MySpace Addictions Music Video The Making of 'Addictions' music video 'The Fool' Music Video 'God Only Knows' Music Video Live On Treble Clef Radio, Los Angeles