Amanda Bentley

Amanda Bentley is a FENDER endorsed bassist/guitarist currently touring with Jully Black.



Amanda Bentley was born into the music business. Both parents were working musicians who also owned a music store and sound and lighting company. As an infant, Amanda travelled with her parents to their various gigs and by age 8 knew the basics of setting up a sound system and putting on a light show for live bands.
"Music was what my family did. Our garage had been renovated into a rehearsal studio. We always had a full set up at our house so as kids, whenever we wanted to play "band" we just went to the garage".
Her dad began teaching her how to learn songs by ear at an early age. "I remember listening to The California Raisins version of "You Can't Buy Me Love" and trying to play the bass line on my little Casio keyboard when I was 6 or 7. My dad came in the room and gave me some pointers. I never stopped after that". Amanda's mom was a singer and had a huge influence on Amanda's ability to pick out harmonies and counter melodies. "From a very early age, I remember learning harmonies with my sister. We would pretend we were The Go Go's."
Having free reign of a music store only fuelled Amanda's budding creativity. Like most kids, she took a few piano lessons, but quickly decided to move on to something louder. She started drumming at age twelve and joined her first band, an all female group called The Frozen Tadpoles. "We mostly just played Nirvana and REM covers" Amanda admits. The band landed their first gig at a hockey arena for a family New Year's Eve event. "We got paid 50 bucks. I thought I had made it".
At age 13 Amanda picked up the bass and knew that was her instrument. She quickly excelled being asked to perform in her high school's senior honours jazz band at age 15. "I don't think anyone in grade 9 ever got in to that band but me. I had something to prove". And prove it she did. She started playing the upright bass when a boy told her she wouldn't be able to play because her hands were too small. Rising to the challenge, Amanda went on to win many awards and accolades for her accomplishments on the bass.
By 15, she had discovered the guitar. "That's when the song writing began. I knew that bass was the instrument for me, but the guitar became my writing tool and writing became my absolute passion in life". She began performing anywhere and everywhere composing dozens of original songs before her 16th birthday and competing in various local talent shows and song writing competitions.
Her journey brought her to Vancouver and after a couple years playing in various bands and pursuing her solo career, she packed up and moved to Toronto. "It was the craziest and bravest thing I have ever done. I had $800 to my name stashed in an envelope, one suitcase and a guitar". Having no place to stay upon arrival, she called a musician friend she had met during a leg of a Tom Cochrane tour she had performed at. "He was one of two people I knew in Toronto and I didn't have the second person's phone number. He told me I could sleep in his music studio for the night".
That night ended up being a fateful one. After bar hopping on her first night in town, she found herself at a party for Universal Music at the Royal York Hotel for Canadian Music Week. "I was exhausted from a long day of traveling, but knew I had to work the room. I collected business cards from everyone that night." One of those cards belonged to a music manager.
Within a week Amanda had found a place to live, a part time job and her first gig. She followed up on those business cards she had collected and invited some industry people to her show. Two of them showed up. "I broke a string on my first song. I remember thinking that I had to stay calm and keep the show going". Amanda grabbed a spare string and while telling a joke she had recently learned, she re-strung her guitar right on stage, not breaking stride for a moment. The music manager took notice.
"At a meeting the next day, I tried to get him to listen to an EP I had recorded just before leaving Vancouver. He refused to listen because he didn't want me to be sitting in front of him if he didn't like it". Amanda persevered and he finally did listen. Amanda was signed to his management roster almost immediately.
A western Canadian tour followed and shortly after Amanda was signed to Addictive Records and garnished a highly coveted endorsement deal from Fender. She began writing and working in the studio on what was thought to be her first full length release. "My manager and producer had two completely different visions of where my career should go. I was stuck in the middle trying to make everyone happy but myself".
Amanda ended up footing the bill for this tug of war. "I was beyond poor. I literally slept on cardboard in my 200 square foot unheated apartment." With a food budget of just $9 a week, Amanda specifically bought food she didn't like. "I was so hungry I didn't want anything around that I actually wanted to eat because I would eat it all and then starve the rest of the week."
Her deal with her management and label folded and Amanda stepped back from music for a couple years. "I was broken. It was too much of a fight for me at that point." During that time, she fell in love and gave birth to a son. It was the push she needed to find her way back to music again. "My son inspired me in ways I never thought possible." Well before her son's first birthday, Amanda had written and released a collection of children's songs that went on to be a best seller on iTunes.
Then one day while surfing the web, she came across a posting for a major artist looking for a bass player. "At first I ignored the ad. I hadn't picked up my bass in three years. All day it bugged me though, so I finally replied". Her email was answered quickly and she was brought in to audition for Juno award winning artist Jully Black. She was offered the job immediately and performed her first show within two days.
"Performing with Jully gave me my spark back. All my passion returned with a force and new songs just started coming out. I will be indebted to her forever for that." Amanda headed straight for the studio to start work on her long overdue full length album, but this time she took matters into her own hands. "I'm producing this myself. I'm playing a lot of the instruments myself. I'm not letting anyone sensor me or pigeon hole me this time around."
The results are her dazzling debut album titled "WOMANITY!" "This album is all about having fun and enjoying our personal journeys". With songs that tackle many issues that women find themselves facing, the title only seemed fitting. "These songs cover substance abuse, date rape, heart ache, love, sexuality, joy, freedom and empowerment but most of all, they focus on how we persevere and over come and are ultimately victorious".