Amanda Shires

Amanda Shires
Shires performing in October 2022
Shires performing in October 2022
Background information
Born
Amanda Rose Shires

(1982-03-05) March 5, 1982 (age 44)
Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • fiddle
  • autoharp
  • ukulele
  • tenor guitar
Years active1997–present
LabelATO
Member ofThe 400 Unit, The Highwomen
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2025)​
Websiteamandashiresmusic.com

Amanda Rose Shires (born March 5, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddle player. Shires has released nine solo albums starting in 2005, her most recent being Nobody's Girl in 2025. In 2019, she founded a country music supergroup called The Highwomen alongside Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby and has also performed as a member of the Texas Playboys, Thrift Store Cowboys, and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, as well as in a duo with Rod Picott. Along with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Shires won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album for their 2017 album The Nashville Sound.

Early life

Following her parents' divorce, Shires' childhood was divided between the Texas cities of Lubbock and Mineral Wells. Her mother is a retired nurse. She also used to be a barrel racer at rodeos. Her father owns a wholesale nursery in Mineral Wells and has a hobby of gold prospecting in Alaska. She is distantly related to noted photographer Erica Shires, who produced the video for the song "Swimmer".

At the age of 10, she happened to be with her father while he was shopping for hunting gear at a pawn shop in Mineral Wells. She saw an inexpensive fiddle for sale and her father agreed to buy it for her on the condition that she learn to play it. It took a while for her to play it well; she usually practiced outside because her dog had a habit of howling while she played. When she was 12, she started taking fiddle lessons in Lubbock from Lanny Fiel, who knew Frankie McWhorter from the Texas Playboys. She then started learning fiddle from McWhorter and was later invited to play at the band's shows. At the age of 15, she joined the Texas Playboys, the former backing band for Western swing legend Bob Wills.

Musical career

Shires performing in 2016

Shires continued to pursue full time work as a touring side musician in the early 2000s, gaining experience backing veterans of the Texas outlaw country circuit. She played fiddle on tour with Billy Joe Shaver and later Todd Snider, both highly respected singer-songwriters. Shaver encouraged Shires to record her fiddle playing and singing in order to provide a CD sample for sale.

In 2005 Shires released a public demo album, the mostly instrumental Being Brave. She described the album as a type of résumé offered to show attendees: "When we toured it was expected that the fiddle players would have their own stuff to sell; which is why I recorded Being Brave, which isn’t really a ‘debut’ album, but more of a showcase for my playing and occasional singing."

Encouraged by positive support from the songwriting veterans she was playing fiddle for on Texas tours, Shires moved to Nashville to pursue a solo career in 2008. The next year, she released West Cross Timbers as her debut album as a solo singer-songwriter.

Shires had toured had extensively with Rod Picott from 2006. In 2009 she and Picott released the collaborative album Sew Your Heart with Wires. Since that time, Shires has also performed and recorded with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Devotchka, Chris Isaak, Thrift Store Cowboys, Blackberry Smoke, and Justin Townes Earle.

In 2011, she appeared in the movie Country Strong as one of the musicians backing singer Kelly Canter, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. During 2011, Shires began attending Sewanee: The University of the South, a small liberal arts university in Sewanee, Tennessee. She graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry in 2017.

During a break from classes at Sewanee, in July 2011 following the release of her third album Carrying Lightning, Shires suffered a severe injury to her left ring finger while using a rope swing jumping into Saint Andrews Lake near the campus. The injury caused loss of feeling and muscle strength that nearly ended Shires’ fiddle playing career. Saying she drew inspiration from Billy Joe Shaver, who was missing two fingers, Shires eventually relearned her violin fingering through two years of rehabilitation.

On the strength of Carrying Lightning, Shires was named Artist of the Year 2011 by Texas Music magazine, appearing on the publication's Winter 2012 cover. Down Fell the Doves followed Carrying Lightning in August 2013, and My Piece of Land was released in September 2016. The latter proved to be Shires' breakthrough, gaining her a nomination from the Americana Music Association.

Shires won the Emerging Artist of the Year Award at the 2017 Americana Music Honors & Awards. That year, she supported John Prine on his worldwide tour alongside Isbell for select dates. Shires announced that she was working on a new album, To The Sunset, which was due for release in August 2018 and which, like My Piece of Land, would be produced by Dave Cobb. Isbell revealed on Twitter that Gillian Welch and David Rawlings will make a guest appearance. As a member of the 400 Unit, Shires won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album for The Nashville Sound. Shires contributed to The Tree of Forgiveness, the 2018 album by John Prine. To The Sunset was released on August 3, 2018.

After researching the lack of airplay women artists received on American country radio stations, which an academic paper found had dropped to less than twenty percent of songs played by 2018, Shires formed the country supergroup The Highwomen, along with Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, and Maren Morris. "Redesigning Women" was the first single from their self-titled debut album released on September 6, 2019. Following her 2021 holiday album For Christmas, Shires released her eighth solo album Take It Like a Man on July 26, 2022.

Shires announced her ninth album, Nobody's Girl on July 18, 2025 alongside the release of its lead single "A Way It Goes". It was recorded at Sound Emporium Studios, produced by Lawrence Rothman, and released on September 26, 2025.

In the summer of 2026, Shires opened the Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: Farewell Tour show at Tanglewood. Appearing along with Shires to sing for Judy Collins during her farewell performance at the venue were Madeleine Peyroux, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Rosanne Cash.

Musical style

David Menconi of the magazine Spin said that Shires "sings [...] like an earthbound Emmylou Harris", and her vocals have been likened to those of Dolly Parton. Reviewers have variously described a "catch" or "quaver", musically called vibrato, in Shire's voice that allows her to express vulnerability or apprehension, or as Jewly Hight writing for NPR explained, acts "as a subtle emotive tool or punctuation in her storytelling, (which) feels like an electrical charge shuddering through the live wire of her voice". The imagery in her songwriting has been compared to that of Tom Waits. Although her principal instrument is the fiddle, she also plays the ukulele.

Personal life

Shires began dating fellow musician Jason Isbell in 2011. The couple married on February 23, 2013 and had their first child on September 1, 2015. She was previously in a relationship with singer Rod Picott. In December 2023, Isbell filed for divorce from Shires. Their divorce was finalized in March 2025.

Discography

Solo albums

As accompanist

As singer-songwriter

With Rod Picott

  • Sew Your Heart with Wires (2009)

With Jason Isbell

With the Highwomen

With Bobbie Nelson

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryNominated workResult
2017Americana Music Honors & AwardsEmerging Artist of the Year[citation needed]Amanda ShiresWon
2018Grammy AwardsBest Americana AlbumThe Nashville SoundWon
UK Americana AwardsInternational Album of the Year[citation needed]Won
2018Americana Music Honors & AwardsDuo/Group of the Year [citation needed]Jason Isbell & the 400 UnitWon
2019Album of the Year[citation needed]To the SunsetNominated
2020Academy of Country Music AwardsGroup of the YearThe HighwomenNominated
CMT AwardsGroup Video of the Year"Crowded Table"Nominated

The song "When you Need a Train It Never Comes" from Carrying Lightning was ranked the fifth best song of 2011 by American Songwriter.

References

  1. ↑ "Songwriter/Composer: Shires Amanda Rose". BMI. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  2. ↑ Soto, Alfred (August 3, 2022). "Amanda Shires: Take It Like a Man". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "GRAMMY Award Results for Amanda Shires". GRAMMY.com. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  4. 1 2 Dansby, Andrew (May 3, 2011). "Amanda Shires makes expressive connection". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Dougherty, Steve (August 1, 2013). "Amanda Shires: A Texas Prodigy Steps Out; She's on the Road With a New Album, Sometimes Appearing with Husband Jason Isbell". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. ↑ Conway, Alanna (June 24, 2011). "Amanda Shires, 'Swimmer' – Video Premiere". Tasteofcountry.com. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  7. 1 2 Wilson, Calvin (August 15, 2004). "Amanda Shires strikes the right balance". St. Louis Post Dispatch.
  8. ↑ Cornell, Rick (September 2009). "Amanda Shires, September 2009". Country Standard Time. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  9. ↑ Thanki, Juli (September 15, 2016). "Amanda Shires celebrates new album at AmericanaFest". Tennessean.
  10. 1 2 Burton, Tommy (August 27, 2014). "Amanda Shires: Half-Fictitious Fiddler". Jackson Free Press.
  11. ↑ "Keeping Cowboy Spirit Alive". CBS News. September 23, 1999. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  12. ↑ Salamon, Jeff (May 2011). "Amanda Shires" (free registration required). Texas Monthly. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  13. ↑ Gross, Terry (September 7, 2022). "Amanda Shires examines the fault lines in her marriage on her new album". NPR. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  14. 1 2 Weiner, Natalie (October 2025). "Amanda Shires Tells Her Side of the Story After Divorce From Jason Isbell: "I'm Not Scared"". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  15. 1 2 Oglesby, Christopher J. (May 1, 2011). "In Profile: Amanda Shires". Lone Star Music Magazine. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  16. ↑ Alford, Aaron (February 19, 2015). "Born Warblin'". Oxford American. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  17. ↑ Harrison, Alan (May 2014). "Amanda Shires Interview". The Rocking Magpie. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  18. 1 2 Skanse, Richard (July 1, 2013). "LSM Cover Story: Amanda Shires". Lone Star Music Magazine. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  19. ↑ Cooper, Peter (July 3, 2011). "Rod Picott and Amanda Shires stay in sync as touring partners, couple". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  20. ↑ McCall, Tris (April 22, 2011). "Singer and violinist Amanda Shires to appear in Asbury Park". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  21. 1 2 Menconi, David. "Amanda Shires, 'Carrying Lightning'". Spin. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  22. ↑ "No Strings Attached". Texasmonthly.com. July 15, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Amanda Shires: From driving her van to sleeping in her own tour bus". The Clarion-Ledger.
  24. ↑ Levenson, Luke (September 14, 2016). "Exclusive interview with Amanda Shires". Nashville Lifestyles.
  25. ↑ "How poetry and fear influenced Amanda Shires' new album, 'To The Sunset'". Entertainment Weekly.
  26. 1 2 Bialas, Michael (August 5, 2013). "Love and Learn With Amanda Shires". No Depression. Archived from the original on March 8, 2026. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  27. ↑ Conway, Tom (January 14, 2014). "Shires gravitates to gloomy songs". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  28. ↑ Wildsmith, Steve (February 26, 2014). "Fiddler, songwriter Amanda Shires takes flight on the wings of 'Doves'". The Daily Times. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  29. ↑ "Winter 2012 Archives". Texas Music. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  30. ↑ Shires, Amanda [@amandashires] (April 19, 2018). "August 3 y'all!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ↑ Isbell, Jason [@JasonIsbell] (January 12, 2018). "Gillian came by to sing on the @amandashires album today and it was so good buddies [Image]" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  32. ↑ Ganz, Jacob (8 February 2018). "John Prine To Release His First Album Of New Songs In 13 Years". NPR.
  33. ↑ Watson, Jada E. (April 26, 2019). "Gender Representation on Country Format Radio: A Study of Published Reports from 2000-2018" (PDF). SongData. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  34. ↑ Watson, Jada E. (September 7, 2018). "Gender on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart, 1996–2016". Popular Music and Society. 42, 2019 (5). Taylor and Francis Online: 538–560. doi:10.1080/03007766.2018.1512070. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  35. ↑ Nilles, Billy (September 7, 2019). "How Maren Morris Came to Be Part of The Highwomen, Country Music's Newest Supergroup". E! Entertainment Television. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  36. ↑ Weiner, Natalie (3 September 2019). "Country Music Is a Man's World. The Highwomen Want to Change That". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  37. ↑ "The Highwomen Light the Ultimate Bonfire in 'Redesigning Women' Video [Watch]". 19 July 2019.
  38. ↑ "AMANDA SHIRES ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM NOBODY'S GIRL TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 26TH". Red Light Management. 18 July 2025.
  39. ↑ "Judy Collins - Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: Farewell Tour co-starring Mary Chapin Carpenter and Rosanne Cash". BSO.org. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  40. ↑ "Judy Collin's Post". Facebook. 1 September 2026. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  41. ↑ Caligiuri, Jim (November 25, 2011). "Amanda Shires – Music Review". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  42. 1 2 3 "Amanda Shires, Texas Playgirl". The Wall Street Journal. April 29, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  43. ↑ "Amanda Shires". Kilkenny Roots Festival. 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  44. ↑ Danton, Eric R. (July 27, 2022). "Amanda Shires Holds Nothing Back on Take It Like a Man". Paste. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  45. ↑ Hight, Jewly (July 26, 2018). "Amanda Shires Takes Her Electric Voice (And Violin) 'To The Sunset'". NPR. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  46. ↑ Kerns, William (July 25, 2012). "Happily engaged Shires makes return appearance in hometown". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  47. ↑ Shires Isbell, Amanda [@amandashires] (September 6, 2015). "So happy and grateful to have Mercy Rose Isbell in the world. 📷- @nateburrell" (Tweet). Retrieved 2015-11-17 – via Twitter.
  48. ↑ Spevak, Jeff (19 May 2015). "Jason Isbell: The craft of sadness at Water Street". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  49. ↑ Isbell, Jason (1 September 2015). "jasonisbell on Instagram: "Today"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  50. ↑ Zimmerman, Lee (August 18, 2016). "Amanda Shires Strikes Solo Magic On 'My Piece of Land' & Talks Family Life with Husband Jason Isbell". Glide Magazine. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  51. ↑ Browne, David (February 7, 2024). "Jason Isbell Files for Divorce From Amanda Shires". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  52. ↑ "Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires Finalize Divorce More Than 1 Year After He Filed". People.com. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  53. ↑ Mills, Fred (2 May 2013). "AMERICAN AQUARIUM – Burn. Flicker. Die". Blurt Magazine.
  54. ↑ "American Songwriter's Top 50 Songs Of 2011". December 13, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2012.