From the first song she wrote in grade school about two rabbits who couldn't get along because they were different colors, to songs about social consciousness and sex, Tracey Amos, a musician, songwriter and performer, will add another growing experience to her list: playing live on a college campus. Amos will be performing an "acoustic rockin' soul concert" at noon today in the University Union Redwood Room. She will be performing songs from her album "Who Are We Really," as well as songs from her upcoming live acoustic album.
This will be her first live performance on a college campus, but Amos isn't nervous. "I'm excited. You're going to enjoy it," Amos said in a phone interview.
"Prepare to Die," a song in her current album, is one of the songs she will be performing and it's also her favorite song to perform, she said. "It takes me somewhere. I'm just in the zone automatically without having to try," she said.
Amos has even performed it for television shows like "Girlfriends" on UPN and "Hand in Hand." Joel Vandijk, 23, a guitarist from Grass Valley who now lives in Hollywood and has played with Amos in several shows, said that Amos' album was a great piece. "She's definitely a versatile artist," Vandijk said in a phone interview.
Her inspirations range from artists and bands like Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Green Day and Blue October. But ultimately, she dreams to rock her soul out with Lenny Kravitz, Nikka Costa or Fishbone. Mina Kang, Amos' manager for about a year, said Amos is always seeking to learn more and is very conscious about what's going on in the world.
"She's not a religious person. She's a spiritual person. The kind of person she is comes through in her music," Kang said.
The first time Kang met Amos, she said she felt like they had known each other for years. When Kang heard her music, she said she thought it was beautiful and that Amos' strongest point was her writing. But Amos has also had to use her positive spirituality in the face of rejection.
She said that when she was shopping for a record in the music industry, they were interested in her, but not her music. "It was devastating to my career and to me. It's like saying your nose is ugly," Amos said.
She bounced back and has a word of advice for aspiring musicians: "Be true to your heart." Amos, born outside of Philadelphia in a town called Wilmington, said she tricked her dad into allowing her to study music. She attended Pennsylvania State for two years as an electrical engineering major, switched her major to music and then transferred to The Berklee College of Music.
Her mother was a teacher but wrote songs and played the piano as a hobby and her father had a hobby in music too. She has local ties to the Sacramento area with her brother living here and her parents residing in Vacaville. Amos, who lives in the Los Angeles area, said she visits Sacramento a couple of times a year.
She hopes to accomplish her music in the future so she can start to help people. "I want a name that's big enough to add to different causes," she said.
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