"Tampa, can you get your mojo workin'?" a confidently smiling Amanda Shaw asked before launching into a fiery, fiddle-laced cover of the Muddy Waters classic "Got My Mojo Workin,"' which sent the all-ages audience into dance mode. The singer/songwriter/violinist/actor made a memorable Tampa Bay debut Saturday at WMNF's 28th Annual Tropical Heatwave. The community radio station's signature fundraiser, it featured six stages in and around the Cuban Club in Ybor City. About 30 mostly national and local bands, ranging from polka to post-rock acts, entertained the thousands of attendees.
Shaw, the 17-year-old wunderkind who appeared on the cover of this week's Creative Loafing, co-headlined the El Pasaje Plaza, which was rechristened the Louisiana Stage this year. All six artists playing on it hail from the Bayou State, with five of them, Shaw included, fresh off performances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The Louisiana Stage is where I remained — taking notes, pictures and thoroughly enjoying myself — for almost the entire evening, a decision I did not regret. (In fact, I'd like to see the Louisiana Stage, which featured killer sets by Shaw, slide-guitar master Sonny Landreth and hip-hop brass band Soul Rebels, become a permanent attraction at Heatwave.)
Shaw's poise, charisma, and chops belie her age. Then again, she's been performing in public for a decade, and it showed Saturday. Backed by her superb, ironically dubbed "Cute Guys" band — guitarist Brint Anderson, bassist Ronnie Falgout and drummer Mike Barras are all middle-aged and didn't appear too concerned about their looks — Shaw elated the crowd with her singular brand of Cajun-flavored roots rock.
This article appears in May 14-20, 2008.