Mandy Moore gets backs to basics on new CD

Mandy Moore doesn't mind being perpetually seen as the "good girl" - even if she thinks that image is a bit skewed.

"You know what? It's fair to say that I am proud and honored that the perception out there is that I'm a good person. That's, to me, the highest compliment. I try to be a good person," the 25-year-old entertainer said in a recent interview. "But I don't think it's completely accurate to say that I'm just good. There is balance in life. You can't have good without a little bad."

Her latest album, "Amanda Leigh," may underscore her point. At first listen, the perfectly perky first single, "I Could Break Your Heart Every Day of the Week," sounds like something tailor-made for today's tweens. But listen again and you'll hear a lyric, co-written by Moore, which sounds as if it was coming from a dominatrix: "Squeeze the life out of you/Wrap you in sheets/I could break your heart any day of the week."

"It's very tongue in cheek, not to be taken to heart by any means," Moore said. "It's sassy, if you will, and a little edgier and no-nonsense - a side of myself that doesn't really come out too often. But it was sort of fun to go there for the sake of the music."

With a folk-rock-pop fusion, "Amanda Leigh" - which takes its title from her given name - tips its hat to mid-1970s era Joni Mitchell and also pays homage to Paul and Linda McCartney's crunchy-granola classic "Ram" (1971). The CD also marks Moore's first release with indie Storefront Recordings after a decade with major recording labels.

"Starting out when you're 14 and signing to a major record label sort of in the heyday of pop music and overspending and sort of all that gluttony, it's really nice to sort of really come back to what's important," said Moore, who first rose to fame as a 15-year-old with the bubblegum song "Candy," then matured in her sound and style over various recordings and became known as an actress for films including "A Walk to Remember."

When she was in the early stages of putting together the album, Moore's ex-boyfriend, DJ AM (Adam Goldstein), and musician Travis Barker were seriously injured in a September plane crash that killed two crew members and two other passengers. Moore sprinted to be at his side in an Augusta, Ga. burn unit - which, Moore said, some media outlets took the wrong way.

"It kind of saddened me," she recalled. "When everything went down it was like, 'Oh, they're dating again.' I was like, 'In this day and age with everything that's going on in the world, it made me sad that there was not a value to friendship,' which, to me is often more important than the other stuff, anyway."

Earlier this year, Moore married famously tortured singer-songwriter Ryan Adams. Moore says the indie artist couldn't help but influence her new album just by his presence - but he didn't contribute in any direct way.

Though some of considered the union an odd pairing, Moore bristles when it's suggested that the "good girl" and her new alt-country husband are a case of opposites attracting.

"To be perfectly honest, I can understand the interest and fascination with our relationship, but there's definitely more than what meets the eye," she said. "I don't think it's a very yin-and-yang relationship. In fact, I feel like we're probably a lot more like most people would imagine and that's wonderful. ... Life is good. I lucked out."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MUSIC_MANDY_MOORE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-06-05-10-52-04

Mandy Moore's Simple Wedding Has Tears, Romance

Forget the trappings of show business. All Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams needed for the perfect wedding were a tiny old brick church, a pastor they just met, a pair of silver bands and each other.

"She was thrilled to be getting married. She was giddy but not in a childish way. She was obviously so happy," Pastor Steve Schulte, who married the couple this week at Whitefield Chapel at Bethesda Home for Boys on the outskirts of Savannah, Ga., tells PEOPLE exclusively.

The couple, who just got engaged last month, arranged for a last-minute ceremony, with one of their reps calling Schulte just the day before, saying a judge wasn't available and asking if the pastor could officiate. "I thought it was either somebody famous or somebody really bad," says Schulte, who agreed to the job, bringing along only a friend, wedding planner Chad Baker – and that was because they had another wedding event later in the day.

Casual Dress

A little after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, a black town car pulled up to the church on the breathtakingly beautiful grounds with blooming azaleas, dogwood trees, giant old live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. Out stepped Moore and Adams and two other men.

The couple dressed down: Moore, 24, wore a cream-colored, lacy tea-length dress and flat sandals, and Adams, 34, had on tight skinny jeans, a T-shirt with sport coat and sneakers. Schulte greeted them, and even when he heard their names, he didn't know who they were.

Only Moore, Adams and Schulte went inside the brick chapel with stained-glass windows and about a dozen wooden pews and a center aisle. (Baker stayed out in Schulte's car.)

In the eight-minute ceremony, the couple held hands and faced each other as they exchanged silver rings purchased from a local jeweler. Tears welled in Moore's eyes and her voice quivered as she took Adams to be her husband.

The Couple Kiss

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Schulte said, and the couple kissed. After the pastor congratulated them, he shook Adams's hand and hugged Moore.

As the couple walked out of the church, Adams turned and took Moore's face in both of his hands and gave her another kiss. They then walked to a little footbridge near the chapel where they hugged and kissed.

"It was so romantic. It was awesome," says Baker. "I just can't stress how happy they seemed."

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20265456,00.html

Mandy Moore And Ryan Adams Get Married

Moore confirmed to MTV News.

The report of their marriage originally appeared on PerezHilton.com. According to the gossip site, Moore and Adams got married Tuesday in an intimate ceremony in Savannah, Georgia. A source told the site, "She's very, very happy." The couple got engaged in February after dating on and off. Another source told Perez that Adams "is completely head-over-heels about her and a changed man."

The couple started dating in December 2007, according to E! News, but didn't make their relationship public until last March. Adams was quite vocal about why the couple broke up the following July, blaming the media's constant presence as a cause. "Unfortunately, I am allergic to paparazzi and have found the best antidote to that sort of nonsense is staying behind the guitar and typewriter," he said of the breakup. "[I'm] staying close to my support group of friends and bandmates and not engaging in activities that prevent me from taking care of myself or others."

Soon after the split, Moore was seen hanging out with former flame DJ AM after he survived a deadly plane crash, though the renewed relationship didn't last long. Before long, Adams and Moore had reunited and were soon after engaged.

"He's a good egg," Moore told the new issue of Marie Claire, reports Just Jared. "I'm in awe of him: his brain, his passion. He's truly one of a kind."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1606777/20090311/moore_mandy.jhtml

Singer-actress Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams engaged

Singer-actress Mandy Moore and rock singer Ryan Adams are engaged.

Moore's publicist Jillian Fowkes confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the two are planning to wed. No details were announced.

The 24-year-old Moore started out as a squeaky-clean teen singer and later crossed into movies with featured roles in such films as "License to Wed," "A Walk to Remember," "Saved" and "American Dreamz."

Adams, who played in the band Whiskeytown during the 1990s before turning solo, is known for his song "New York, New York," which appeared on his album "Gold," released in 2001. - AP