Amanda Kind Does A “Slow Dance” Into Love

Raised on Canada's west coast in White Rock, British Columbia, Amanda Kind now calls Waterloo, Ontario, home.

Growing up, her biggest musical inspirations came from a wide variety of artists, from Dolly Parton, Ella Fitzgerald, and Barbra Streisand, to Alanis Morrisette, Green Day, Mariah Carey, and more.

Known for her powerful voice and soaring range, Amanda's broad spectrum of musical influences has led to a versatile career singing everything from country, pop, and rock, to jazz, musical theatre, and even opera.

Through a passionate display of poise and adoration, the emotive soundscape wrapped up in her latest single, "Slow Dance," whisks us into the unalloyed quintessence of Amanda Kind.

The crisp and poignant strum of a guitar riff so elegant yet simplistic makes up the musical bed on which Amanda lays her powerful croons. As each drum hit explodes with a sense of purpose, the rhythmic essence of "Slow Dance" makes you want to do that.

"The pandemic taught us a lot of things - one of the big lessons for me was how important real-life connection is. No screen can replace the feeling of being with someone and getting to know them by spending time together in person," Amanda Kind says.

As we take in the moving instrumentation and sway our bodies to the beat of Kind's drum, we grasp the meaning of this record in its entirety. Delving into the importance of patience and easing into love, she showcases this rich narrative from a place of compassion and understanding.

Encouraging her audience to cherish the finer moments in life as they truly pass us by in the blink of an eye, the beauty emanating from this country ballad speaks to those craving an old-school romance. Sweeping us up with her soulful performance, each word Amanda Kind professes is more prominent than the last.

She has a grand voice meant to be heard and encapsulates the beauty within her; we're all drawn towards her charismatic quintessence.

Listen to "Slow Dance" on all major streaming platforms today.

Welcome to BuzzMusic, Amanda Kind, and congratulations on releasing your latest single, "Slow Dance." How does it feel to have such a passionate and emotion-fueled ballad out?

Thanks so much for having me, BuzzMusic! I’m a huge fan of big voices with emotional impact like Patsy Cline, Adele, or Martina McBride, so I wanted this song to have epic power ballad energy while at the same time feeling modern and sexy. “Slow Dance” is personal because I’m still searching for the kind of “record store romance” that the song talks about. So many of my friends and I are getting tired of the instant gratification world that we live in, where everything - including falling in love - feels so rushed. We crave that slow-burn kind of connection, and that’s what this song is all about. It feels great to have the song out there finally. I’ve been playing it live for months and getting such amazing audience reactions. People have been coming up to me after gigs or messaging me on Instagram to let me know how much they love this song, and that input influenced my release timeline… I put the song out sooner than I originally planned because the live-show response was incredible. It’s a wonderful and humbling feeling when people connect strongly with a song you’ve written.

We notice every ounce of emotion you pour into this record. Do you find it fairly easy to tap into such a vulnerable place?

I come from a theatre background and have always been strongly connected to my feelings. I was a bit of a drama queen as a teen - I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve, so it gets easily broken. A song like this is vulnerable and confident simultaneously because the lyrics and the emotions are deeply relevant to my real life. The melody in “Slow Dance” compliments the lyrics in a beautiful way, so telling the song's story naturally has highs and lows built into it. I love the way the chorus lifts off with big, sweeping notes. It feels so good to let them soar - a cathartic release of big emotion. Recording “Slow Dance” was both fun and difficult. It’s a challenging vocal line, but so satisfying to sing.

Basking in the profound essence of the instrumentation and lyrical motifs, we can only imagine how special it was to create a song like this. Please shine a light on the creative process that brought this song to life.

I held onto the idea of “Slow Dance” for a while before figuring out who to co-write the song with. I knew I wanted something that had a classic essence to it. I previously wrote another song with David Madras and Matt Koebel, and I felt they understood me musically. We got together on Zoom, and the song just flowed out of us in about 2 1/2 hours. I knew right away that it felt special. I particularly like the long-held notes in the chorus and the jagged stops in the verse instrumentation; they give the song character. Matt and I worked to find a balance between old-school Patsy Cline-type sentimentality and that modern country energy. I love the way the song came together. I was lucky to have incredible players on the tune: Emile d’Eon and Stu Weinberg on Guitar, Mark Rynkun on Bass, Rich DaSilva on drums, Ed Ringwald on Pedal Steel, and Matt Koebel on Keys.

With striking visuals to match, what can you tell your audience about the meaning behind the "Slow Dance" music video?

The song “Slow Dance” itself is a bit serious sounding, but the music video is packed with romantic comedy silliness. We had so much fun. I worked with AJ Astle and Jonny Diano at Roadhouse Productions, and we asked my friend Patrick Stiles, a film actor and musical theatre performer, to play opposite me. He was game for anything - I even got him to slide into a scene in his underwear, Risky Business style. I was nervous about starring in the video because I’m a plus-size woman, and I know how judgmental people can be about that. I strongly considered having someone else act it out. But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that we need more visual representations of different body types in romantic stories. If I hide, I am uplifting stereotypes and limitations I don’t believe in. Love happens to people of all shapes and sizes. Anyway, I hope people will appreciate the cheesiness. My favorite moment in the video is the meet-cute eye glance across the bargain bin at the record store. I laugh out loud every time.

What are you looking forward to the most in 2023?

My debut country EP is coming out this summer. “Slow Dance” is the second single from that project. The first single, “Love Used To Live Here,” came out last summer. I’ll be releasing three more songs this year leading up to that EP release. The next Rebel Spirof is coming out on March 8 - International Women’s Day. I’m stoked about it; it’s a rockin’ girl-power anthem in all the best ways. I get butterflies when I share my songs with the world, and at the same time, I’m starting to feel less and less afraid about what people think of me. The more I do this, the less I worry about fitting in and the more excited I get about just doing my thing and seeing what happens. I guess that comes with age - you know who you are, and you get radically brave about living your truth.

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