Multi-Award winning American Blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, Samantha Fish, will release her new studio album Belle of the West on Ruf Records on Friday 17th November 2017. The new album will be supported by a nationwide 8-date UK tour that kicks off at The Stables in Milton Keynes on Monday 20th November.
“You should always get outside of the box,” Samantha Fish says while discussing her boundary-breaking new album Belle of the West. “Challenging yourself is how you grow.”
After launching her recording career in 2009, Samantha 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.”
Having already made it clear that she’s more interested in following her heart than she is in repeating past triumphs, Samantha Fish delivers some of her most compelling music to date with Belle of the West, her fifth studio album. The deeply soulful, personally charged 11-song set showcases Fish’s sublime acoustic guitar skills as well as her roots, emotionally resonant song writing.
Fish recorded Belle of the West in the relaxed, rural creative atmosphere of the legendary Zebra Ranch Studios in the North Hills of Mississippi with producer Luther Dickinson (of North Mississippi All-stars fame), with whom she worked previously on her 2015 album Wild Heart.
The studio team included some of the region’s most iconoclastic musicians, including Dickinson, solo artist and Jack White associate Lillie Mae (whose distinctive vocals are featured on Nearing Home), much-travelled juke-joint blues artist Lightnin’ Malcolm (whose featured on Poor Black Mattie), Squirrel Nut Zippers founder Jumbo Mathus, upright bassist and beloved solo artist Amy LaVere, Tikyra Jackson, Trina Raimey and Shardé Thomas, granddaughter of the legendary Southern bluesman Otha Turner.
“I wanted to do this acoustic-electric record, and tap into the style and swagger of Mississippi,” Fish states, adding, “Any time you dive into another place, another vibe and a new group of people, you’re challenging yourself to grow musically. I felt very at home a Zebra Ranch, and I’ve known Luther and Malcolm for years, so it was a very comfortable situation. When you’re making a record like this, it has to feel natural if you want people to respond to it.
SAMANTHA FISH – NOVEMBER 2017 UK TOUR DATES
Milton Keynes, The Stables – Monday 20 November Tickets
Bristol, The Tunnels – Tuesday 21 November Tickets
Bilston, Robin 2 – Wednesday 22 November Tickets
Southampton, The Brook – Thursday 23 November Tickets
London, Borderline – Friday 24 November Tickets
Derby, The Flowerpot – Saturday 25 November Tickets
Keighley Blues Live – Sunday 26 November Tickets
Edinburgh, Stramash – Monday 27 November Tickets
