Singer-songwriters Tara Leavey and Amanda Jean have released their deeply personal single ‘Line of Fire,’ now streaming on all major platforms. The song stands as a powerful collaboration between mother and daughter — a tribute to family resilience and the enduring strength of music to carry stories that words alone cannot hold.
Rooted in the true story of Tara’s father, Albert Edward Leavey, a World War II veteran who carried the invisible wounds of Normandy long after returning home, “Line of Fire” reflects the generational echo of trauma and the healing power of remembrance. Through music, the Leavey family has transformed a history of hardship into art that resonates across time, speaking to PTSD survivors and understanding the lasting effects of WWII and dedicated to all those who fought a war after the war.
Tara wrote the song while walking laps around the Trenton High School track, capturing fragments of memory and melody on a handheld recorder. Each line came from lived experience — moments of tenderness and fear, strength and sorrow — that shaped her childhood in a household shadowed by post-war pain. The writing process became a form of release, a long-awaited conversation with the past.
She brought the song to producer and arranger Ben Vandergaast, whose sensitivity and understanding helped shape the track’s emotional core. Together, they wove atmosphere and texture around Tara’s lyrics, using subtle drones to mirror the anxiety that lingers in the aftermath of battle. The result is a composition that feels both cinematic and intimate, a song that listens as much as it speaks.
Amanda Jean, Tara’s daughter and long-time musical partner, contributed the bridge and additional production ideas. Having written and performed across Canada and abroad, Amanda brought her own emotional depth to the recording, adding the sound of marching soldiers — a sonic symbol of inherited memory and empathy. Her voice and presence help bridge generations, turning family history into shared healing.
“Line of Fire” is as much about what is unsaid as what is sung. It reflects the quiet endurance of Tara’s mother, who raised eight children while carrying the weight of her husband’s suffering. It honors the siblings who grew strong in that same fire, and the unspoken understanding that survival itself is an act of grace. Every measure of the song bears the tenderness of that truth.
Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/track/6chfFLt969VFbMBGn3ItHJ?si=4b8f214c84d84302&nd=1&dlsi=9bb291b7d09f49c5
The recording features Ben Vandergaast on arrangement and production, with Brunette (Sammy Balfour) on percussion, and mastering by Jef Vandertogt. Each collaborator helped shape the song’s emotional pulse, allowing its story to unfold with honesty and restraint — the hallmarks of a seasoned songwriter’s touch.
For Tara Leavey, “Line of Fire” marks not just another chapter in a long career that began with RCA/BMG and Top 10 Canadian Country singles, but a homecoming to her truest voice — the storyteller’s voice that finds beauty in vulnerability. For Amanda Jean, it deepens a creative lineage built on trust, compassion, and the courage to face the past through song.
Together, their collaboration reminds us that music’s most powerful gift lies in its ability to connect hearts across generations. “Line of Fire” is more than a song; it’s a testament to the ways art can transform pain into remembrance, and remembrance into peace.
Editor’s Note: “Line of Fire” has been selected to be a Spotlight Song on Cashbox Radio just in time for Remembrance Day. You can request airplay for this song at Request a Song on Cashbox Radio! – Cashbox Radio