Amanda Shaw to Play Ventura Oysterfest on October 13

In late August 2012 right before Hurricane Isaac hit Louisiana, I discovered Amanda Shaw and The Cute Guys at the New Orleans Slobsterfest.  Amanda Shaw who can be described as a Cajun rocker was in the middle of a national tour, and made a detour to play before a home crowd at the Slobsterfest in Metairie, just north of New Orleans near Louis Armstrong airport.  Amanda who recently turned 21 has been performing for over ten years, and is well known locally in New Orleans.  In fact, if one is in New Orleans and Louisiana in October, you can catch her at several Lousiana festivals, and then in San Francisco on October 7 at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.  But for Southern California, her only appearance this Fall is up in Ventura on Saturday October 13, 2012 at the first annual Ventura Oysterfest, although she has played in the Los Angeles area earlier this year.



Amanda can mix in cajun fiddling and rock out doing her own music and cover songs, including a number of swamp pop songs.  Below is a link to a four minute video that I took at Slobsterfest in which she is playing Cha Cha. If this does not play from an Ipad, then the link to my Amanda Shaw YouTube video can be found here. In addition to my first ever use of video on an ExperienceLA blog post, I have my usual group of pictures on flickr, in which you can view it as an embedded slide show, or if on an Ipad, then from my Amanda Shaw slideshow link on Flickr.
When Amanda Shaw was showing her appreciation of her audience, it reminded me of Kasey Chambers thanking her own audience. Amanda has tremendous stage presence, as she dances on stage with her fiddle and interacts with her supporting male musicians. Some of you may have seen Amanda Shaw in one of several movie appearances, including Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary on Louisiana after Katrina. And some major trivia that I learned from Amanda Shaw's official web site, is that Amanda Shaw was offered the starring role of Hannah Montana, but turned it down, and we all know how Miley Cyrus rode that roll to fame.

So if looking for something to do in Southern California on Saturday October 13, 2012 from 11 am to 6 pm, then head up to the Ventura Oysterfest for the music and food (with an emphasis on oysters), and especially to see Amanda Shaw and The Cute Guys. It will be well worth the trip. Cost of the festival is $20. Check back to the official website, as to what time Amanda Shaw is scheduled to play.