By Brian Wise
If you saw Samantha Fish at Bluesfest in 2019 you probably don’t need me to tell you what a dynamic performer she is; her shows were spectacular. The good news is that Samantha is on her way back, with the recent album Faster and an exciting collaboration on the way.
“I was pretty nervous,” recalls Fish who is at her home in New Orleans when we talk via Zoom. “I’d been looking at that lineup since I was a teenager. That’s a great festival. It’s awesome. Every, every year I look at it and it’s like knocked it out of the park again.”
Fish’s latest album Faster is produced by Martin Kierszembaum who has worked with Lady Gaga, Sting and Sheryl Crow, amongst others. That in itself should tell you the serious intent of the album. To add to that, Fish is backed by drummer Josh Freese (Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails, The Replacements), and bassist Diego Navaira (The Last Bandoleros). You would have to think that after eleven albums since 2009, Fish is ready to reach and even bigger audience with this huge slice of blues rock that could have just have easily been titled Louder! Ironically, there is a song titled ‘Loud’, but the other side of Fish also makes an appearance on the four ballads that highlight her powerful voice.
Samantha Fish grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and started out playing the drums, but when she was 15, she switched to guitar, citing Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughan as influences and hearing the Stones album Sticky Fingers album as a lightbulb moment. These days Fish lives in New Orleans which is where I first saw her years ago during Jazz Fest.
“I feel very fortunate that they invite me back to these things because it’s pretty massive,” says Fish when I mention that some friends had phoned me to tell me that I had to see Fish. This year she was on the main stage, and she also features in the recent documentary JazzFest: A New Orleans Story. “It’s a really special, it’s a really special event.”
“I went to New Orleans, JazzFest before I moved here,” recalls Fish. “I was living in Kansas City the first time I came down. New Orleans to me has been a place that I’ve always wanted to put down roots in it really. Because when I look at like the great American cities, New Orleans is just full of romance, it’s poetic, it’s art. There’s a rich culture here. There’s history here and there’s a love of the arts. I find constant inspiration here. I think it’s just one of those places that keeps giving to artists in a way that’s emotional and inspirational.”
“It’s definitely a place that encourages living loud as you can and as loud as you want,” she continues. “We play pretty loud. People say I seem pretty extroverted. I don’t know. It’s weird going on stage and having that connection with the audience. In my life I’m probably more of like a shy person than would be let on by what I do on stage – but I guess it just depends on the day.”
Fish will be back with her four-piece touring band that includes her bass player Ron Johnson, keyboard player Matt Wade from New Jersey and drummer Sarah Tillek.
“They’re pretty loud,” she says, and when I suggest that they could be called the Louder Band adds, “They would probably be rolling their eyes right now at me because they probably think I’m the loudest one up there.”
“I’d say even the album before that got obscured by Covid Killer B Card,” says Fish when I mention that Faster probably didn’t get the attention it deserved because of the effects of Covid.
“It [Kill Or Be Kind] came out in September of 2019, and then by March of 2020 we were done supporting it. Normally, you give an album two years. I guess it got kind of truncated as well. But Faster? This is just the new world we live in. It’s gotten a lot better but we’re still dealing with complications with Covid, even in the manufacturing side of things, like just the physical process of making a record is so much more difficult now than it was three years ago. I’m realising it’s like we just have challenges.”
So, what can we expect on the Australian tour? Will Fish be highlighting the last couple of albums, or will she dig deep into her catalogue?
“Because I grew up in the age of the internet and a lot of people have found me through videos on the web, we, we do have a good deal of fans in Australia that have never really gotten to see our show,” she says. “So, my plan is of course we’re going to showcase material from Faster being that it’s the most recent release and Kill Or Be Kindbecause again it’s another really recent release. But I want to showcase material from all of my records, and I just want to put on a great show that. I want to take people on trip. My priority in Australia is going to be just putting on a good show. I think people will know and recognise something that’s exciting and danceable and gives them something they won’t forget about.”
As for Fish’s forthcoming album? It has been recorded with Texan guitarist Jesse Dayton (a visitor here in late 2022) and is produced by Jon Spencer. “It’s really special and incredible and I can’t wait for people to hear it,” says Fish. We can hardly wait either. In the meantime, you can catch Fish on tour in February.
February 16 – Princess Theatre, Brisbane / February 17 – Lizottes, Newcastle / February 19 – The Basement, Canberra / February 21 – Freo Social, Perth / February 24 –
Faster by Samantha Fish is available now through Rounder Records.