Samantha Fish Pays Homage to Two Christmas Classics: "Run Run Rudolph" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" Are Released Today
On Tour Now
November 15, 2019 - Nashville, TN - Samantha Fish's new recordings of "Run Run Rudolph" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," available today, pay loving tribute to two of her favorite holiday tunes.
"'Run Run Rudolph' is always such an upbeat song, we thought it would be cool to dip it in some noir," laughs Fish. "I think it gave it a unique character that's different from everything out there. I chose 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' because of my love for all things '60s soul. It's the biggest rock'n'roll Christmas song ever, and being a Darlene Love fan, I wanted a chance to put my heart and soul into it."
Fish, who has established a reputation as one of the most compelling young roots musicians on the scene, is currently on tour in support of Kill or Be Kind, her Rounder debut. The album, which has inspired tremendous praise from critics, showcases her abundant gifts and versatility as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
Recent critical praise:
"For the last decade, she has been one of the most promising young blues performers working, a punchy singer and a rowdy guitarist. Kill or Be Kind is her first album for the roots-music powerhouse Rounder, and it demonstrates the range of her palette, which takes in Southern R&B, rockabilly and much more." Jon Caramanica, New York Times
"At a time when rock music remains in a deep recession - to put it politely - there are few more encouraging sights to see than a badass, slide-guitar-wielding female from Kansas City lobbing some blueswailing rock and roll." Jem Aswad, Variety
"Guitarist Samantha Fish has been a roadhouse blues-rock virtuoso, a hill country Americana chanteuse and a Detroit-soul torch singer, all in the span of a mere eight years. On Kill or Be Kind (Rounder), her new album and sixth overall, Fish masterfully streamlines everything that has made her a compelling artist to date." Jim Beaugez, Guitar Player
"Fish's playing reaches a fresh creative peak on her latest as a songwriter, vocalist, and player. She's consistently inventive and dynamic, and many of her solos boldly leap outside the box..." Ted Drozdowski, Premier Guitar
"Fish's latest release, Kill or Be Kind, is loaded with the snarling guitar and mule-kick vocals that caused her videos to turn heads...Balancing fierce, slide guitar-driven crowd-pumpers like 'Bulletproof' with quieter soul/R&B tunes like 'Dirty,' it's a fun mix of gentleness and aggression." Damian Orion, Guitar World
"Kill or Be Kind is a watermark for Fish. Her writing, singing, and playing all serve the truth of what she seeks here: the heart of song." Thom Jurek, All Music
Fish is presently on tour in the United States. Early next year, she will return to the UK and Europe for an extensive run of dates. A full list of confirmed shows is below.
Tour Dates
Samantha Fish's Kill or Be Kind is Available Today
Rising Roots Star's Rounder Debut Spotlights Her Versatility
On Tour Now
September 20, 2019 - Nashville, TN - Over the past decade, Samantha Fish's riveting live performances have firmly established her reputation as one of the most compelling young roots musicians on the scene. Her Rounder debut Kill or Be Kind, released today, showcases her abundant gifts and versatility as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
Music critics are taking notice.
"For the last decade, she has been one of the most promising young blues performers working, a punchy singer and a rowdy guitarist. Kill or Be Kind is her first album for the roots-music powerhouse Rounder, and it demonstrates the range of her palette, which takes in Southern R&B, rockabilly and much more." Jon Caramanica, New York Times
"Fish's latest release, Kill or Be Kind, is loaded with the snarling guitar and mule-kick vocals that caused her videos to turn heads...Balancing fierce, slide guitar-driven crowd-pumpers like 'Bulletproof' with quieter soul/R&B tunes like 'Dirty,' it's a fun mix of gentleness and aggression." Damian Orion, Guitar World
"...she hasn't only removed herself from the gender ghetto ("ooh, look, a woman! With a guitar!), she's also developed an eclectic rootsy style that separates her from today's (mostly male) profusion of 12-bar, Stevie Ray worshipping traditionalists. Kill or Be Kind is not a by-the-book blues record." Polly Glass, Classic Rock
"...this Fish tale keeps getting more intriguing every happy day." Michael Bialas, PopMatters
"There's much to be said about Samantha Fish's unique musical style. Her distinctive blend of blues, rock, and soul is perfectly tailored to her sultry pop vocals, a difficult pairing to pull off. But she does." Samantha Stevens, Guitar Girl
"Samantha Fish can take you for a ride in the country, blow your blues away, or body slam you with some raucous rawk from her oil-can guitar." Grant Britt, No Depression
"Samantha Fish has been killing it live for years - on stage, she's commanding, compelling, ferocious and sexy, and she's as good a guitar player as you'll ever hear. This time around, she's committed herself to putting something just as memorable on record. Her new release, Kill or Be Kind, impresses as much with its songcraft as it does with her legendary chops." Andrew Gulden, Americana Highways
Fish is presently on tour in the United States. Early next year, she will return to the UK and Europe for an extensive run of dates. A full list of confirmed shows is below.
Tour Dates
9/20/19 Nashville, TN 3rd and Lindsley
9/21/19 Louisville, KY Bourbon & Beyond
9/22/19 Gulfport, MS Chillin on The Gulf Music Fest
9/24/19 Portland, OR Revolution Hall *
9/25/19 Seattle, WA Neptune*
9/27/19 Stateline, NV Montbleu Resort *
9/28/19 Sacramento, CA Farm To Fork Festival
9/29/19 San Francisco, CA Fillmore *
10/01/19 Chandler, AZ Chandler Center for the Arts*
10/03/19 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour*
10/04/19 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour *
10/05/19 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up*
10/06/19 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up *
10/10/19 Live Oak, FL Suwanee Roots Festival
10/11/19 Kansas City, MO Crossroads KC
10/12/19 Bentonville, AR Epic Rides Mtn. Bike Event
10/13/19 Charlottesville, VA The Festy Experience
10/19/19 Hillsborough, NC River Park Concert
11/08/19 Pensacola, FL Vinyl Music Hall
11/09/19 Kiln, MS Sugar Magnolia Festival
11/29/19 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
11/30/19 Iowa City, IA Wildwood
12/01/19 Des Moines, IA Wooly's
12/04/19 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
12/05/19 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
12/06/19 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line
12/08/19 St. Louis, MO Old Rock House
12/13/19 Asheville, NC Salvage Station
12/17/19 Washington, D.C. 9:30 Club
12/19/19 Philadelphia. PA World Cafe Live
12/28/19 Kansas City, MO Knuckleheads Saloon
1/07-1/12/20 Miami, FL Jam Cruise 18
2/28/20 Glasgow, UK St. Lukes
2/29/20 Leeds, UK Brudenell
3/1/20 Nottingham, UK Rescue Rooms
3/3/20 Manchester, UK Gorilla
3/4/20 Cardiff, UK The Globe
3/5/20 London, UK Islington Assembly
3/6/20 Norwich, UK Waterfront
3/7/20 Bristol, UK Trinity Centre
3/8/20 Brighton, UK Concorde
3/10/20 Paris, FR La Cigalle
3/11/20 Leuven, BE Het Depot
3/12/20 Utrecht, NL De Helling
3/13/20 Arnheim, NL Luxor Live
3/14/20 Tilberg, NL 013 Poppodium
3/17/20 Copenhagen, DK Pumpehuset
3/19/20 Oslo, NO John Dee Live Club & Pub
3/20/20 Gothenburg, SE Valand
3/21/20 Stockholm, SE Nalen Kubb
3/23/20 Helsinki, FI Taviasta
3/25/20 Hamburg, DE Fabrik
3/27/20 Roth, DE Rother Bluestage
3/28/20 Winterbach, DE Strandbar /Lehenbachhhalle
*with Marc Broussard
Samantha Fish Shares Video for "Bulletproof" Via Guitar World
Rounder Debut Kill Or Be Kind Set for Release September 20
On Tour Now
July 12, 2019 - Nashville, TN - Genre-defying guitarist, singer, and songwriter Samantha Fish unveiled the video for "Bulletproof," the lead track from Kill Or Be Kind, her debut album for Rounder. The album, which will be released on September 20, was produced by three-time Grammy winner Scott Billington and mixed by two-time Grammy winner Steve Reynolds.
As she told Guitar World, "'Bulletproof' is about losing touch with yourself when you try to make everyone else happy. It's a little bit of an observation on society's standards and the music industry-how people can criticize every little thing, and because you're in show business you're expected to be bulletproof as an individual."
"Vulnerability being taken as weakness, you put on a mask to steel yourself," she continued. "It's a facade, but we all do it anyway."
Watch the video HERE
Anyone who has ever heard Fish's previous albums knows that she has earned a place in the top rank of contemporary blues guitarists and that her voice can wring the soul out of a ballad and belt out a rocker with roof-shaking force.
While those virtues are fully in evidence on Kill Or Be Kind, each of the songs on the album does far more than simply provide a setting for Fish's pyrotechnics. They tell captivating stories, set up by verses that deftly set the scene, choruses that lift with real feeling, and hooks that later rise up in your thoughts, even when you're not aware that you're thinking of music at all. It's the kind of songwriting that emerges when raw talent is leavened by experience and aspiration, and when a committed artist genuinely has something to say. Those qualities make Kill Or Be Kind a genuine artistic breakthrough for Fish.
Fish sought out high-quality songwriting collaborators for the album - the likes of Jim McCormick (who has worked with Fish before and also written for Luke Bryan and Keith Urban); Kate Pearlman (who has worked with Kelly Clarkson); Patrick Sweeney; Parker Millsap; and Eric McFadden. The result is an album on which each song is distinct, but the complete work hangs together as a coherent, entirely satisfying statement.
Fish propels "Watch It Die" with an insistent guitar riff, but near the song's end two female background singers lend the song a haunting soulful feel. Meanwhile, "Love Letters" moves on an insinuating, stop-time riff in its verses until it bursts in passion on its chorus. Both songs use horn sections for finesse and texture. "Love Letters" also introduces one of the album's central themes: the allure of losing yourself in love - and the dangers of it. "Keep waking up in the bed I made," Fish sings. "Forget the pain when you wanna play/I'm back to broken when you go away."
The title track, a seductive ballad, offers a lover a stark choice: "Make up your mind/I can kill or be kind."
The songs "Dirty," "Love Your Lies" and "Fair-Weather" explore similar themes - how deceit, self-deception and shifting expectations can alter the course of life and love.
The affecting ballad "Dream Girl" stands the endearment of its title on its head and explores the dilemma of a love not coming to fruition.
On "She Don't Live Around Here Anymore," a soul ballad once again bolstered by tasteful horn parts, the singer confronts the feeling of being used and finds empowerment in walking away.
"You Got It Bad (Better Than You Ever Had)" is about working towards your dreams and the knifes edge we often walk to reach our goals.
"Trying Not to Fall in Love With You" finds the singer not wanting to rush a relationship - and therefore undermine it. "
Having completed an album that she believes in so strongly - "This is me coming through, my personality," she says - Fish is eager to bring it to the world. "I got the moon in the back of my mind, and I want to shoot for it!" she declares. "I want to reach over genre lines and get out to as many people as possible. This album is so broad - and it's all me. So I'm just hoping it catches people and appeals to them."
Fish is currently on tour. A full list of dates is below. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Pre-order link HERE
Media kit HERE
Kill Or Be Kind Track Listing
- Bulletproof
- Kill or Be Kind
- Love Letters
- Watch it Die
- Try Not to Fall in Love with You
- Fair-Weather
- Love Your Lies
- Dream Girl
- She Don't Live Around Here
- Dirty
- You Got It Bad
Samantha Fish On Tour:
7/12/19, Tremblant, Quebec, Tremblant International Blues Festival
7/13/19, Greenfield, MA, Green River Festival
7/27/19, Fort Smith, AR, Peacemaker Music & Arts Festival
8/09/19, Louisville, CO, Louisville Street Fair
8/10/19, Angel Fire, NM, Festival Eclectica
8/16/19, Warren, PA, Rally in the Valley
8/17/19, Cockeysville, MD, Hot August Music Festival
8/23/19, Paola, KS, Paola Roots Festival
8/24/19, Freeland, MI, Freeland Blues Festival
9/05/19, Urbana, IL, Ellnora / The Guitar Festival
9/13/19, Telluride, CO, Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
9/14/19, Telluride, CO, Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
9/21/19, Louisville, KY, Bourbon & Beyond
9/24/19*, Portland, OR, Revolution Hall
9/25/19*, Seattle, WA, Neptune
9/27/19*, Stateline, NV, Montbleu Resort
9/29/19*, San Francisco, CA, Fillmore
10/01/19*, Chandler, AZ, Chandler Center for the Arts
10/03/19*, West Hollywood, CA, Troubadour
10/04/19*, West Hollywood, CA, Troubadour
10/05/19*, Solana Beach, CA, Belly Up
*w/Marc Broussard
RISING ROOTS PHENOM SAMANTHA FISH UNVEILS KILL OR BE KIND
Rounder Records Debut Slated for Release on August 30, 2019
Single "Watch It Die" and "Love Letters" Available Today
UK & European Tour Kicks Off with Live Performance on BBC Radio 2's
The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews on May 6
US Tour Follows
May 3, 2019 - Nashville, TN - Genre-bending guitarist, singer, and songwriter Samantha Fish will release Kill Or Be Kind on August 30, 2019. A two-song single from the album featuring "Watch It Die" and "Love Letters" was released today.
"Watch It Die" reveals Fish's prodigious gifts as a commanding vocalist and her sublime guitar technique, while the smoldering "Love Letters," is a fiery lament about love gone wrong that slowly builds to a searing bridge and solo.
Listen HERE
Fish's incendiary live performances have been mesmerizing audiences all over the globe. Now, with Kill Or Be Kind, Fish is poised for a major breakthrough. The edgy roots music album was recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis and produced by three-time Grammy winner Scott Billington and mixed by two-time Grammy winner Steve Reynolds. Boasting 11 original songs ranging from the electric cigar box stomp of "Bulletproof" to the sweet Memphis R&B of "Trying Not To Fall in Love With You," the album is sure to establish Fish as a potent force in roots music.
The Kansas City-born-and-bred musician flirts with tradition but pushes genre boundaries to create a sound that's distinctly her own: "She Don't Live Here Anymore," co-written by Parker Millsap, features a Memphis soul underpinning with a sustained vibrato guitar sound that edges toward country. "Love Your Lies" persuasively straddles punk, rockabilly, and soul; while "You Got It Bad (Better Than You Ever Had)" is a classic blues rocker, thick with layered guitars and a cigar box solo. She shows off her range with the sweetly wistful "Dream Girl" and the cathartic, blues-saturated "Farewell My Fair Weather."
On May 6, Fish will kick off her tour of the UK and Europe with a live performance and interview on BBC Radio 2's highly-rated and influential The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews.
In June, she will start a tour of the US that includes stops at the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, San Francisco's Fillmore, and the Troubadour in West Hollywood. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tour Dates:
5/02/19 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
5/07/19 Sage 2 Gateshead
5/08/19 Milton Keynes The Stables
5/09/19 Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms
5/10/19 Glasgow Òran Mór
5/11/19 Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham
5/12/19 Bristol Thekla
5/13/19 Cambridge Cambridge Junction
5/14/19 Manchester Band on the Wall
5/16/19 London The Garage
5/17/19 Brighton The Haunt
5/18/19 Oxford O2 Academy
5/19/19 Southampton The Brook
5/21/19 Paris Le Flow
5/22/19 Brussels AB Club
5/23/19 Amsterdam Q Factory
5/24/19 Hamburg Fabrik
5/25/19 Dortmund Piano
5/26/19 Nurnberg Hirsch
5/27/19 Munich Strom
5/28/19 Zurich Kaufleutenv
5/30/19 Milan Legend Club
6/08/19 Flagstaff, AZ Flagstaff Blues Festival
6/14/19 Fort Wayne, IN Sweetwater Pavilion w/Kenny Wayne Shepherd
6/15/19 Northfield, OH Hard Rock Live w/ Buddy Guy
6/23/19 Vienna, VA Wolf Trap Filene Center
6/28/19 Griffith, IN Broad Street Blues and BBQ Festival
7/05/19 Davenport, IA Mississippi Valley Blues Festival
7/06/19 Stevens Point, WI Riverfront Rendezvous
7/09/19 Uxbridge, ON Uxbridge Music Hall
7/10/19 Pawling, NY Daryl's House Club
7/11/19 Fall River, MA Blockapalooza
7/12/19 Tremblant, Quebec Tremblant International Blues Festival
7/13/19 Greenfield, MA Green River Festival
7/27/19 Fort Smith, AR Peacemaker Music & Arts Festival
8/09/19 Louisville, CO Louisville Street Fair
8/10/19 Angel Fire, NM Festival Eclectica
8/16/19 Warren, PA Rally in the Valley
8/17/19 Cockeysville, MD Hot August Music Festival
8/23/19 Paola, KS Paola Roots Festival
8/24/19 Freeland, MI Freeland Blues Festival
9/05/19 Urbana, IL Ellnora / The Guitar Festival
9/13/19 Telluride, CO Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
9/14/19 Telluride, CO Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
9/21/19 Louisville, KY Bourbon & Beyond
9/24/19* Portland, OR Revolution Hall
9/25/19* Seattle, WA Neptune
9/27/19* Stateline, NV Montbleu Resort
9/29/19* San Francisco, CA Fillmore
10/01/19* Chandler, AZ Chandler Center for the Arts
10/03/19* West Hollywood, CA Troubadour
10/04/19* West Hollywood, CA Troubadour
10/05/19* Solana Beach, CA Belly Up
*w/Marc Broussard
Genre-Bending Roots Phenom Samantha Fish Signs With Rounder Records
November 27, 2018 - Nashville, TN - Rising roots music star Samantha Fish has signed with Rounder Records, it was announced today. Fish's prodigious gifts as a singer, songwriter, and electrifying guitarist have won tremendous critical acclaim and earned numerous awards, and her albums have topped the Blues charts and have also made a strong showing on the Americana & Folk and Independent album charts.
Rounder Records President John Strohm observed, "Samantha is among the most dynamic, compelling live performers I've seen in recent years. She's a triple threat: guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and her music continues Rounder's longstanding lineage of supercharged, blues-based rock'n'soul."
Veteran producer and three-time Grammy winner Scott Billington has signed on to produce Fish's debut for the label. He said, "Samantha Fish may be the most exciting blues-based performer to come along in years. She has it all- great songs, soulful vocals, tough guitar chops and a magnetic stage show- while often breaking the blues mold in the most gratifying ways. I'm thrilled to be working with her."
"I'm thrilled to be recording an album for Rounder Records. I've been a fan of their roster for years. It's an honor to be apart of the family," said Fish.
As a recent review in No Depression noted, "Fish's ability to roar through so many different American musical styles without breaking a sweat make her one of the most exciting acts on today's roots music scene."
Fish, a native of Kansas City, is currently writing songs for the album, and is collaborating with a number of co-writers including Parker Millsap, Patrick Sweany, and Aaron Lee Tasjan.