Bio

"Those of us who have been privileged to observe amanda's music career from the outset, have always known that her music is not separate from her Self. The amazing instrument that is her voice, has carried the songs of others and her own, into the heart and soul of those who have continued to listen to her over the years. As a young singer, the raw energy she projected from the Cape Town stage, propelled her onto the international stage, almost too soon. Abandoning the Rock and Roll arena, for motherhood and a degree in Core Energetics in her early thirties, amanda never turned her back on the music that is the core of her being. Instead, she steered it in a different direction. One that encompasses her knowledge of the healing world and embraces the dream of equality that inspires her to continue giving the gift of her voice; her song. These songs are born from a long journey; from darkness into the light of redemption, and as we, the listeners, are carried along this river of song, the singer embraces us with the assurance, that as long as there is music and dancing, there is Freedom."

... Lynne Robinson, writer / artist, Taos NM

amanda 'blue' leigh was born and raised in Cape Town during the turbulent era of the Apartheid Regime's stranglehold on South Africa. The political atmosphere combined with the extraordinary beauty and cultural melange informed her sensibilities early on. At eleven years old, amanda began her journey as a musician, playing guitar and singing for children in orphanages around the Cape.

By the age of fifteen, having left home (and school) she was living in Hout Bay with like minded souls, who even in that far country, had caught the wave of change that swept through the 1960's, she was invited to join the band H.A.M.M.A.K. that soon rose to national and critical acclaim.

The South African music scene of the early seventies was a richly diverse breeding ground of multicultural cross-pollination, especially in Cape Town, which always had a reputation of bucking the Apartheid rules and regulations. amanda was credited with bringing the songs of Neil Young to the Cape Town stage.

H.A.M.M.A.K. released a live album in South Africa in 1971 and in 1972, amanda released a solo album on Warner Brothers England, entitled Medusa.

Together with original H.A.M.M.A.K. members, Keith Lentin (Producer/guitarist) and Anton Fig (famed studio and David Letterman Drummer), amanda moved to New York City in 1977, where they formed the band Spider.

Spider, a hard rock band, was soon discovered by KISS members Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons, and signed to Nikki Chin and Michael Chapman's label Dreamland Records.

They recorded two albums for Dreamland, one in 1980 and one in 1981. Tina Turner who tipped her hat to amanda's singular vocal style and performance on Better be good to me, co-written by Spider's keyboardist, Holly Knight, covered this recording off their second album.

After Spider disbanded, amanda went on to record an album with the band Shanghai for Terry Ellis' label, Chrysalis, in 1982.

A series of turns on the career road, caused amanda to retreat from the performance side of the music scene. She became primarily a studio singer/songwriter, who wrote and recorded many songs with her husband at the time, Anton Fig, and devoted herself to raising her two children, Chay and Austin.

In 1992 she went on to record with the band NativeLand, made up of South African exiles, Robit Hairman and Ron Kunene (of Lion King fame). Rupert Hine and Kevin Godley placed one of their tracks in One World, One Voice, a video compilation celebrating Earth Day. The project included cameos from Peter Gabriel, Sting and Robbie Robertson, among others.

amanda also worked with Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix Band) on a project during the early 90s.

At the beginning of 1993 she met writer/visionary Sir Laurens Van Der Post through a family friend. He in turn introduced her to writer/visionary Helen Luke who lived and worked at the Apple Farm community in Three Rivers, Michigan. She spent the next four years traveling to London to counsel with Sir Laurens and to Apple Farm to counsel with Helen and her fellow spiritual brothers and sisters there. These great spiritual teachers and mentors changed her life. Their gifts lovingly nurtured and restored her spirit to work in music and healing, bringing them together in a new way.

Over the next decade, she studied and trained as an energy healer/worker. She is a qualified practitioner/teacher in both Core Energetics (John Pierrakos) and the Energetic Clearing Process (Judith Johnson).

She also recorded three solo CDs with Producer Godfrey Nelson.

Her latest solo CD OneLove (2007) was recorded with producer Keith Lentin in NYC.

amanda and her husband, John Slicker, are both currently teaching at the Core Energetics Institute in New York City. They now spend half the year in California and continue their Core work and host special events there.

amanda believes that her music and her emotional/spiritual healing work help support a new world vision that is coming into fruition.

"We are spiritual beings in physical form and the suffering we bring upon ourselves and our world is created by our unconscious, disowned, wounding, patterns and belief systems.

We need to become aware of how we bring suffering into our lives through these ways and how this poisons our minds, bodies, emotions and spirit and especially our relationships, all our relationships at home and in the world." she says.

"It does not matter what culture you belong in, how old you are, how beautiful you are, how talented and smart you are, how much you weigh nor how rich you are. Your heart is truly precious. You have great value and your life has meaning. It is how you surrender to your pain and whom you believe yourself to be, that will make your life what it is. It is when we allow ourselves to admit, acknowledge and feel our own wounding, without pushing it away or blaming others, that we begin to open our hearts, release our fears, moment by moment. We will never 'get rid of our negativity', we are not made to, but if we become aware of these feelings and become compassionate with ourselves, we will become clear about who we are and be able to manifest our deepest longings and dreams in all our relationships, our work and most especially in the world".

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