Amanda Dycus My name is Amanda Dycus.  I am a musician from Southern Illinois.  I am just finishing my debut album, Paris Moon.  I suppose this is where I try to wrap up my musical history in a few short paragraphs.  This may be the greatest task ever set before me.  There is a lot to tell. I entered the world destined to be a musician.  When I was almost three and my mother would inform me that we would be going to my grandma’s house, my response was “fine, but don’t make me sing.”  By age three I had acquired my first piano and began piano lessons at age four with a hesitant teacher.  I proved myself worthy of her time and was entertaining at local recitals by age five.  I dazzled the locals with Mozart and Beethoven.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out that writing was much more fun than reading.  I began writing my own piano pieces and by late, grade school was incorporating lyrics.  I picked up the saxophone in fourth grade and spent the rest of my school years learning other instruments.  By fourteen, I was teaching piano and recording bits and pieces with friends.  I sang karaoke for fun and kept on writing.  I learned that my music was maturing just as I was.  The more of life I experienced, the more soulful my work became.  I have written about lost loves, the death of my father, the birth of my child and all the rest in between.             I would consider my musical tastes to be rather erratic.  In one given day I may go from Chopin to Enya, to Louis Armstrong to Elton John and finish the day with Eminem.  I have a very wide range of tastes.  I can’t say that my writing is influenced by other musicians.  It just comes out of nowhere really.  I write around my lyrics as opposed to creating music first.  It’s a process.  I start with some sort of personal inspiration, write the about it, and then spend the next couple of hours at the piano finding the right mood for the lyrics.  You never know what I might come up with next.             I am now 26 and finally finishing an album that has traveled the states with me.  Thanks to Outback Records, it is finally happening.  After all these years it is finally here.  I am so thankful to everyone who has been a part of it.  I am excited about having something to share with friends and family.  Now having the opportunity to share with people around the country is very exciting.  I never expected radio play out of any of this, but now that I have it, it is such an honor.  I am glad that I have something to share with the rest of the world.  And more so, that people are taking an interest in hearing it.  I will continue to write as I continue to mature and be thankful for whatever listening audience that I am blessed with.