Gorilla Manchester, 3 March 2020

“You should always get outside of the box,” Samantha Fish says while discussing her boundary-breaking album BELLE OF THE WEST. “Challenging yourself is how you grow.”

After launching her recording career in 2009, Samantha Fish quickly established herself as a rising star in the contemporary blues world. Since then, the charismatic young singer-guitarist-songwriter has earned a reputation as a rising guitar hero and powerful live performer, while releasing a series of acclaimed albums that have shown her restless creative spirit consistently taking her in new and exciting musical directions.

The New York Times called Fish “an impressive blues guitarist who sings with sweet power” and “one of the genre’s most promising young talents.” Her hometown paper The Kansas City Star noted, “Samantha Fish has kicked down the door of the patriarchal blues club” and observed that the young artist “displays more imagination and creativity than some blues veterans exhibit over the course of their careers.”

It is perhaps easy to think that with the paucity of female blues rockers, and especially top quality ones, that anyone with a hint of talent will be hailed from the rooftops - rightly or wrongly. Samantha Fish is admired by many including top musicians and critics. But the pudding-proof comes with live performance of excellent recorded material. Fish acknowledges that she is still developing and so tonight’s show is fascinating for me, having heard some of her newest songs.

In front of a sellout audience her band (drummer, two keyboard players, bass) arrive on stage and open the show without their boss. When Fish eventually arrives the roof of the venue is lifted with the warmest and loudest of welcomes. Fish looks the business both in wardrobe terms and physiology - she screams life experiences (good and bad). Her opening guitar choice looks like a large cigar box with a fret attached. Immediately I’m struck with her guitar-playing and the latent passion in her delivery with instrument and voice. I am also impressed by her band who deliver the ideal backdrop.

While the sound quality at this venue is always a challenge, the performance wins through big-time. The setlist is made up by almost the whole of her newest album which in itself is interesting to me. It’s always tempting for artists to tread carefully around new songs and rely more heavily on historic fan favourites. Tonight Fish confirmed that her latest is probably her best and most accessible through its melodic strength, with no shortage of hooks and lyrics which connect with lovers and losers. I’ve witnessed performances by some of the best female blues rockers in recent years and tonight Fish proved to be at the top of her profession and chosen genre.

Fish convinces with her ability to move from out-and-out rockers to slower soulful ballads - the diversity in pace and mood of her setlist is more than welcome. This is a masterclass by an artist that is improving like the finest wine. Superb and inspiring.

Setlist

Hole In The Bottom
Love Your Lies (intro)*
Bulletproof*
Kill Or Be Kind*
Watch It Die*
Love Letters*
She Don’t Live Around Here Anymore*
You Got It Bad*
Try Not To Fall In Love With You*
Say Goodbye
Little Baby
Dream Girl*
No Angels
Fair-Weather*
Bitch On The Run

Encore:

I’m Interested
Shake ‘Em On Down

* From Latest LP, KILL OR BE KIND

Biography

Samantha Fish grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. Fish started out playing drums, but when she was 15 she switched to the guitar. Fish frequently went to the Knuckleheads Saloon to hear touring Blues artists. After turning 18, she often joined in with the singers and bands who were performing at Knuckleheads.

In 2009, Fish recorded and produced Live Bait. The live album attracted the attention of a talent company, who recommended her to Ruf Records. Ruf Records put together a record with Fish and two other female blues artists, Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde, titled GIRLS WITH GUITARS. The three guitarists then toured on the Ruf Records 2011 Blues Caravan in the U.S. and Europe.

Fish continued touring with the Samantha Fish Band, featuring “Go-Go Ray” Pollard on drums and Chris Alexander on bass, playing in Europe and the United States. In 2011, Fish recorded RUNAWAY with the help of her mentor Mike Zito. The album won the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist. Fish appeared on Devon Allman’s 2013 album TURQUOISE in a duet covering the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks’ song ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’. During the summer of 2013, Fish was called up on stage to play with a sceptical Buddy Guy who was so impressed with her playing on the guitar, he declared with a beaming smile to his audience, “When this kind of shit happens, I’ll play all night!”

In 2013, Fish released her second major studio album, BLACK WIND HOWLIN’, featuring Mike Zito on guitar, Yonrico Scott on drums, Johnny Sansone on harmonica, and Paul Thorn, vocal duet on one track. The album was recorded in Dockside Studios, in Maurice, Louisiana. Mike Zito’s bandmates from his group Royal Southern Brotherhood, Yonrico Scott and Charlie Wooton, were brought in to assist in the session recordings. Also in 2013, Fish appeared on The Healers Live at Knuckleheads Saloon, producing a CD/DVD collaboration with Jimmy Hall, Reese Wynans, Kate Moss, and Danielle and Kris Schnebelen (sister and brother, formerly of the band Trampled Under Foot). Proceeds benefit the Blue Star Connection. The Healers occasionally perform together as their schedule permits.

Fish’s third studio album, WILD HEART was released on July 10, 2015. The new album is more roots rock than her earlier blues rock. Fish wrote five songs on the record. She co-wrote five other songs with Jim McCormick in Nashville, Tennessee. Luther Dickinson produced the album, as well as played various stringed instruments (guitar, bass, mandolin, lap steel) to flesh out the sound. The album was recorded in four studios, Royal Studios and Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, Zebra Ranch in Coldwater, Mississippi, and Blade Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana. Other musicians on the record are Brady Blade (drums), Lightnin’ Malcolm (guitar), Shardé Thomas (drums), Dominic Davis (bass), Shontelle Norman-Beatty (background vocals), and Risse Norman (background vocals). Fish released her fourth solo album, CHILLS & FEVER on March 17, 2017. The album was recorded in Detroit and was recorded with members of the band The Detroit Cobras. Bobby Harlow produced the album. Belle of the West followed in December 2017.

Fish released her sixth solo album, KILL OR BE KIND, on September 20, 2019, on her new label, Rounder Records. It was chosen as a ‘Favorite Blues Album’ by AllMusic.

“That was my mission on this album: To really set these songs up so that they have a life of their own,” says Samantha Fish about Kill or Be Kind, her sixth solo album and her debut on Rounder Records. “Strong messages from the heart – that’s what I really set out for.”

https://www.samanthafish.com/