Motherhood while on the road

Seanna Cronin speaks with Amanda Palmer on juggling a new role with a music career

AMANDA Palmer has taken on motherhood with the same gusto she has brought to her music career.

The American singer-songwriter, best-selling author and former front woman of The Dresden Dolls will have her 16-month-old son Anthony in tow when she arrives on our shores later this month for The Woodford Folk Festival.

“The baby is not technically part of the stage show but he comes with me everywhere and I have been learning the ropes of how to tour with a baby,” she tells APN.

Despite her long-running love affair with Australia, this will be Palmer’s first appearance at Woodford.

“The timing has never worked out because I usually do Christmas in the States, and to get from the States to Australia with a breather there are not a lot of days in there,” she says.

“I’ve always wanted to do it. I’ve been hearing about it since I first started coming to Australia, so this year I just went for broke.”

Her two Woodford performances will differ from her An Evening With Amanda Palmer tour, which will take in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra and Cairns from January through March.

“Woodford will very likely not allow me to play for four hours, which is what I’ve been doing at my own shows lately,” she says.

“Woodford is going to be closer to a wham bam thank you maa’m, if you’ve never seen Amanda Palmer before then you’re never going to forget this 45 minutes. I won’t spend 20 minutes having a discussion with the audience about Donald Trump like I do in my own shows.

“What I’ve enjoyed about touring solo is I don’t have to decide. I can get there and have a variety off set lists. I can get on stage, lick my finger, put it in the air and see how it feels.”