Healing Through Music: Amanda Martinez on Grief, Mental Health & Her Album Recuerdo

Amanda Martinez writes and records mostly in Spanish, the language of her Mexican dad who biked all the way from Mexico to Canada, and you’ll learn how Amanda’s recent album Recuerdo helped her process her grief going through the illness and death of her father. Amanda is also an actor, and you’ll hear about some of her experiences acting, including My Little Pony, Kim’s Convenience and Rosie’s Rules for which she has composed songs. Amanda came to her acting and music career after pursuing science and business, and you’ll be inspired to hear how she navigated serious personal challenges to following her true path. She shares great wisdom about the importance of talking about mental health and also some of her personal tips for living a full and fullfilled life. You’ll be hearing clips from a few songs from the album Recuerdo, as well as Libérame from Libre featuring Kellylee Evans. You’ll also find Martinez’s music on several Putamayo world music compilation albums. Please check out the links to other episodes you'll like below. Transcript and video on my website

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Libérame video

Other episodes you'll like:

Kellylee Evans

Jean Rohe

Fern Lindzon

Jah’Mila

Kavisha Mazzella

Shakura S’aida

(00:00) Intro

(02:33) album Recuerdo, Amanda’s dad Gustavo

(10:55) the band

(12:36) clip of Sol de Ayer

(13:30) Afro-Cuban influence, long-time collaborators

(14:59) identity as a musician, mentors

(18:55) grief, song with Aviva Chernick

(21:22) clip of No te vayas

(22:42) performing in South Africa

(25:56) Amanda’s teen years

(28:17) Other episodes you’ll like and ways to support this series!

(29:11) love of dance

(31:21) writing lyrics in Spanish

(33:16) clip of Release Me

(34:00) mental health challenges and background in business

(46:01) Libérame with Kellylee Evans (link to video in show notes)

(49:40) Namibia SOS Children’s Villages

(53:38) Acting career, Rosie’s Rules, My Little Pony, Ari Posner, Carl the Collecctor

(59:33) typecasting, Kim’s Convenience, memorizing lines

(01:04:40) personal routines and mental health, family