Empowering women through music

Amanda Peters is on a mission

By Jamall Adams
AMANDA Peters is what many Guyanese have described as “the voice of gospel music in Guyana.” She’s bold, competitive and God-fearing. With her amazing voice, Amanda uses her music side by side with her dedication to empower women, and it is this dedication which also allows her to live her dream on a daily basis, having received the opportunity to perform in front thousands of Guyanese, both as an entertainer and competitor, throughout her career.

Amanda’s passion for music began during her childhood when she was living in Queenstown, Georgetown. Her passion grew when she attended church with her mother and this led to her fascination with the performance of the church choir. This fascination led five-year-old Amanda to emulate what she witnessed in church by the choir to her family when she was home. This encouraged her to practise daily with high hopes that one day she would become a singer. The hard work of practising which formed a major part of Amanda’s childhood finally paid off when she and her two sisters formed a singing group called ‘The Peters Sisters.’

The message of empowerment
The Peters Sisters group lasted for some years, however, even after they spilt, Amanda continued to pursue her dreams and became a solo performer. It was during this time of her singing career that she became more aware of the daily struggles women were facing in society. This encouraged her to use her musical platform to spread the message of empowerment.

The decision to empower women through her music had opened tremendous doors for her singing career. It also landed her the opportunity to perform at one of the biggest gospel shows in the country, which headlined international gospel artistes such as Papa San, Prodigal Son, DJ Nicholas and Chevelle Franklin. After her magnificent performance, Amanda was encouraged by her family, friends and her fans to enter the GTT Jingle competition, which she eventually did.

In 2012, Amanda signed up on the GTT Jingle Competition where she showcased her talent to Guyana and the rest of the world. Even though Amanda did not win the competition, she said, “The Jingle competition was an effort to gain popularity within the Guyanese community and at the same time, a chance for me to test my self-confidence.”

She added that the experience taught her the importance of being competitive and consistent, which led her to release her first single immediately after the competition. Amanda further stated that even though she did not win the competition she felt like a winner, since the experience she gained from competing has helped her to become a better artiste.

Debut album
Amanda, through her passion for music, continued to record more singles. These singles and the popularity that she gained from competing in the Jingle competition gave her a bigger buzz than she anticipated. This buzz attracted numerous news interviews and many requests for features from other local artistes. Even though Amanda was being celebrated by many fans and other musicians, she remained humble and continued to work on her music. In March 2016, she dropped her debut album, ‘Wake Up’.

‘Wake Up’ was the name given to the album because of the message of empowerment. This included seven special, featured tracks dedicated to female listeners. The name was also chosen over many other choices since it represented the solutions to the many problems women face. The track list includes features from well-known artistes such as Trenacia Esseboom, Solid Youth, Allan Petty and Eddie Neblett and focuses on positive subjects aimed at providing an uplifting message.

‘Wake Up’ is available for purchase at every major music store in Guyana and is also available through Amanda Peters on Facebook.

Asked about her drive to motivate women, Amanda said, “Empowering women is a self-instilled obligation of mine, not because I am a woman, but mainly because I see myself in every woman.”

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