Amanda Wood Christmas concert, Kay Meek Centre, Sunday, Dec. 8, 7:00 p.m. Tickets $20 (advance), $25. For more information visit kaymeekcentre.com.
The tall, blond elf pulls white lights and red bows from Canadian Tire shelves.
Amanda Wood has one day to record a Christmas album.
With decorations in place, the Dundarave resident hums, croons and serenades her way through 14 tracks in one marathon session at Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studio in Gastown.
"I just splattered Christmas all over the entire studio," she reports.
Recording Celebrate the Love at Christmastime in one day was about saving money, a necessity for most any singer not backed by a major label, but also about capturing something vital.
"I'm proud that I'm a really great live singer. People come to my shows and they often say, 'Wow, you're better live than even on the CD,' and that's sort of rare nowadays," she says.
The comforting, joyful album mixes contemporary pop, traditional carols, and one original tune, all with the backing of a septet of jazz musicians.
"What I said to them was, 'Let's record each song and make sure we've got a technical take where we've got it right. Then let's just throw the rulebook out and just go for it.. .. Almost every single song that ended up on the album was one of those magic takes."
The album is a jazzinfluenced reprieve from the madness that characterizes the Christmas season. The songstress chose that direction after listening to the slow groove of Diana Krall's Quiet Nights bossa nova album at the end of a frantic day.
"There's a power to creating beautiful, relaxing music because people are stressed out," she says. "It's just so important that you provide them a soundtrack for something they can ease into."
The disc is slated to be released at a Kay Meek concert featuring special guests and a youth brass band playing in the lobby.
Wood has also offered 50 tickets to students from the Sarah McLachlan School of Music.
Going a-wassailing is almost involuntary for Wood. The Victoria-raised singer spent many Christmas Eves in her youth singing in choir or playing Mary at candlelight church services.
"Oftentimes musicians kind of roll their eyes and groan a little when Christmas comes around because they have to sing or play the same music every day for thirty days straight." Wood says. "I laugh with glee."
Wood listed movie star as her ambition while still in kindergarten. She was a perfectionist, and as with many perfectionists she harboured anxiety about falling short of perfection.
"I was very shy about my voice. .. to the point where if somebody heard me singing in the room I would almost burst into tears," she remembers.
Wood maintained a balance between her fear of failure and her desire to perform until a musical theatre coach helped her discover a powerful gospel voice hiding under her "sweet little mezzo soprano."
"All of a sudden this breakthrough happened where I sort of went 'raaar!'" she recalls, laughing.
Finding her back-ofthe-theatre voice also helped Wood learn about performing. Whether she's re-working a pop standard for a jazz crowd or belting out "O Canada" for an arena of Canucks fans she tries to move people emotionally rather than awing them with flawless vocals.
A decade ago, Wood did commercials for a steakhouse as well as a spot on Crime Stoppers. No longer clawing for résumé credits, Wood is committed to songs and stories she believes in. Prior to recording her two most recent albums, she argued with an agent over a part that required nudity.
"He said 'It's a foot in the door,' and I said 'Well, it's a foot in the door to becoming the next Pam Anderson, and I'm a trained actor, I'm not interested in that,'" she recounts.
Wood didn't take the part.
"Oftentimes the way you look really plays into the acting and I am just not interested in playing blond bimbos. I'm not going to do any disservice to any of my blond sisters out there," she says with a laugh.
Wood has played roles on Dead Like Me and Cold Squad, but she's still not immune from a nasty case of stage fright. Speaking to the North Shore News, she recalls one particularly brutal audition for a TV hosting gig.
"I bought a new dress and I was feeling great," she says.
But after staying up most of the night and going without breakfast, the audition room's normally bright lights turned blinding.
"I just kind of went blank and I had almost like an anxiety attack," she says, describing the tryout as an "out of body experience."
"I remember saying to them, sort of scrambling 'Oh, I just never do this,' and 'Just give me one more chance.' All that stuff you're not supposed to say."
She walked out feeling gutted. After taking a few steps she called her agent and burst into tears.
"I think I literally had just so low blood sugar that I just had nothing left in the tank," she says. "The life of an independent artist, it's tough. I don't mean to complain at all, but it's hard sometimes."
Many performers seem to grow protective calluses to handle the rejection endemic to showbusiness, but it's something Wood resists.
"People are always saying you've got to have rhino skin, but I've always balked at that because. .. how do I connect with people, how do I connect even with myself if I've got this tough exterior?" she asks. "For me, the most important thing is being able to wear my heart on my sleeve and be willing to get beat up sometimes in exchange for staying open and true and honest and loving and vulnerable."
