Mana Stanaway is gutsy folk.
Amanda began singing and writing as a child. Raised on old hymns, rural community stomps, public halls, and the great tradition of American folk music, singer-songwriter Amanda ‘Mana’ Stanaway brings her poignant lyrics of love and loss, life, business and otherwise to the stage.
An “artist’s artist,” her music is written with emotional pith and melodic nuance, as demonstrated in her gorgeous ballad Christopher’s Waltz.
There’s a New York City hustle in her Pacific Northwestern roots. From Tacoma, Washington, Oregon to New York, and back again, these landscapes and communities shaped her sensibility in music and lyrics.
Mana is based in the hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Her résumé boasts multiple national performances, including a Midwest tour with the late Peter Yarrow (of the legendary Peter, Paul and Mary), a Chorale performance at the Vatican, Italy, and at the Tillamook County Fair. She’s toured cross-country in Lucy, her ice cream truck decked out with roof-stage singing.
Collaborative at heart, Mana is cultivating a circle of musical friends to join her at her regular Full Moon Party shows. For more than a decade, she’s performed as a duo with guitarist Stan Cassell. Their most recent album is 2025’s luckyinlove.
“Amanda, what a beautiful voice you have!”
PETER YARROW, Peter, Paul and Mary
“Amanda Stanaway writes songs that penetrate so deeply you think about them forever after. Her honest and raw portrayals of love, life, mothers and lovers will take you through a myriad of emotions that always, always end with joy. She is a songwriter’s songwriter.”
MISSI BAKER, MOJO HOLLER
“Amanda Stanaway is the musician I play my best with. By far. Life is short, so I thought I’d make that clear. Artful songwriting aside, she has the right mix of all the stuff of great duos.”
STAN CASSELL
“Amanda Christine Stanaway is the whole package: her voice is lilting and effervescent with a trace of earthy textures, rooted in emotional wisdom. Her pithy lyrics and melodies portend this in equal measure. She has a beautiful, statuesque presence and her ability to connect with an audience is as genuine as her off stage personality— warm, bright and breezy.”
ERIN McDOUGALD, Internationally lauded jazz vocalist
As an entrepreneur, Amanda’s started successful Oregon cafés like Mana’s Kitchen and the South Store Café. If you’re lucky, you might find Lucy the Ice Cream Truck at local festivals.
