Samantha Fish with Cary Morin Duo

Door Time: 6:30 PM
Show Time: 7:30 PM

Over the course of her career as an award-winning artist, singer/songwriter/guitarist Samantha Fish has brought extraordinary power to her self-expression, capturing her inner world in combustible riffs, visceral rhythms, and spine-tingling vocal work. On her new albumย Faster, she joins forces with superproducer Martin Kierszenbaum (Lady Gaga, Sting) and imbues even more intensity into her electrifying brand of blues/rock-and-roll. With Fish accompanied by legendary drummer Josh Freese (Guns Nโ€™ Roses, Nine Inch Nails, The Replacements) and bassist Diego Navaira of The Last Bandoleros, the result is a singular body of work both irresistibly galvanizing and emotionally raw.

The follow-up to 2019โ€™sย Kill or Be Kindย (Fishโ€™s Rounder Records debut),ย Fasterย came to life at the famed Village Studios in Los Angeles, where she and Kierszenbaum uncovered new possibilities in her captivating sound. โ€œKansas City played a major part in bringing us together: I was born and raised in KC and Martin has some familial ties. Shortly after being introduced last year, we had a conversation about making an album,โ€ she recalls. โ€œHis track record was perfect for what I wanted to do with this album, which was to expand into different genres while retaining the roots Iโ€™d built in the blues world.โ€ Revealing her affinity for North Mississippi blues heroes like R.L. Burnside and wildly inventive iconoclasts like Prince, the album ultimately embodies an unbridled energy true to its emotional core. โ€œThe whole record has a theme of taking charge and taking the reins, in a relationship or in life in general,โ€ says Fish. โ€œI really thought that after 2020 Iโ€™d end up with a really dismal, bleak album, but instead, we came up with something thatโ€™s fun and sexy and so empowering.โ€

Fasterย opens on its spellbinding title track, a fiercely stomping number whose vocal hook states her intentions to โ€œmake your heart beat faster.โ€ Immediately making good on that promise, Fish next unleashes the restless urgency of โ€œAll Ice No Whiskey,โ€ a pop-perfect powerhouse she considers something of a dare. โ€œโ€˜All Ice No Whiskeyโ€™ is a way of telling someone they donโ€™t have any of that substance Iโ€™m looking forโ€”sort of like, โ€˜Come back when youโ€™ve got something interesting for me,โ€™โ€ Fish says. That defiant spirit also infuses โ€œBetter Be Lonely,โ€ a fantastically loose and freewheeling track graced with a frenetic guitar solo. โ€œThat songโ€™s about putting someone on ice, where youโ€™re telling them: โ€˜I donโ€™t want you right now, but when Iย amย ready to have you, you better be there,โ€ says Fish. Another bold statement of self-possession, โ€œTwisted Ambitionโ€ brings mercurial rhythms and jagged guitar work to Fishโ€™s refusal to let others define her. โ€œItโ€™s about flipping the roles of powerโ€”taking control and confronting a world that tries to put you in your place,โ€ she notes.

Whileย Fasterย never fails to showcase the gritty vitality of Fishโ€™s musicianship, much of the album journeys into elegantly eclectic sonic terrain. One ofย Fasterโ€™s most vulnerable moments, โ€œCrowd Controlโ€ unfolds in delicate beats and shimmering keyboard tones, forming a dreamy backdrop to Fishโ€™s self-reflection. โ€œItโ€™s about confronting your demons โ€“ separating the version of yourself that you portray to the world from who you actually are. At its core, itโ€™s about expressing vulnerability,โ€ Fish explains. โ€œWhen I wrote it, it felt like a true rootsy, Americana song. Martin added keys and modern synth textures that really brought it back around to this plaintive mood.โ€ Featuring a guest spot from rapper/singer/songwriter Tech N9ne, โ€œLoudโ€ drifts from doo-wop reverie to guitar-fueled frenzy, riding that tension to glorious effect. โ€œTech N9ne is by far one of the biggest artists to come out of KC, and one of the biggest self-made artists in the world,โ€ says Fish. โ€œHe was perfect for โ€˜Loud,โ€™ which is a song about speaking your truth as loud as you can. Itโ€™s about saying to the person youโ€™re with: โ€˜I want you, but I want you ugliness and all. So donโ€™t ever be afraid to speak your mind and speak your heart.โ€™โ€ And on โ€œHypnotic,โ€ Fish lays down a mesmerizing piece of R&B-pop, telegraphing unfettered desire in her seductive vocal delivery and lushly textured grooves. โ€œโ€˜Hypnoticโ€™ is about putting somebody under a spell,โ€ she says. โ€œThereโ€™ve been times in my life when I havenโ€™t felt all that in control in a relationship, and this song was my chance to become that person.โ€

For the final track toย Faster, Fish selected the albumโ€™s most tender song, a gorgeously stark and slow-burning ballad called โ€œAll the Words.โ€ โ€œItโ€™s about letting a relationship go because thatโ€™s whatโ€™s best for everyone, even though itโ€™s a horribly painful experience,โ€ says Fish. โ€œWhen we recorded it, it was just me on guitar, Diego on bass, Martin playing the grand piano. Itโ€™s a song I hold very close, and it felt right to make it as raw as possible.โ€

Throughoutย Faster, Fish threads her songwriting with the kind of nuanced storytelling and ultra-vivid detail that comes from carefully honing her craft. โ€œBecause we usually tour so much, most of my albums have been written in hotels between shows,โ€ she says. โ€œThis was the first time Iโ€™ve ever had the opportunity to just sit in one place, and pour everything that was happening around me into songs.โ€ Growing up in Missouri, Fish first found her love of songwriting in her late teens, mining inspiration from the likes of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. Having taken up guitar at age 15, she soon began seeking out gigs by cold-calling countless local bars. โ€œI used to open the phone book and call up every place in Kansas City, even if they didnโ€™t have live shows,โ€ she remembers. โ€œI had maybe a three percent success rate, but eventually I started filling up my calendarโ€”if you put on a good enough show, word of mouth gets around.โ€ Over the years, Fish has maintained her reputation as a phenomenal live act and repeatedly turned out critically acclaimed albums, in addition to earning an ever-growing number of accolades.

For Fish, one of the greatest joys of making music is the powerful exchange of energy at her incendiary live shows. โ€œI fell in love with music from going to shows, and I know how cathartic it can be. It heals your heart,โ€ she says. โ€œAnytime I play live, I just want to want to make people forget about everything else in the world and feel that same joy that I feel on stage.โ€ And in the process of creatingย Faster, Fish experienced a similar exhilarationโ€”a sustained head rush thatโ€™s entirely palpable in every track on the album. โ€œThereโ€™s such a transformation that can happen in the studio when you really own that freedom to be creative,โ€ she says. โ€œI feel so charged up in those moments, like I can be whoever I want to be. Itโ€™s just me and these incredible musicians trying to make a piece of art that speaks for itself and contributes something new to the world. Itโ€™s never hard to feel inspired or empowered when thatโ€™s the mission.โ€

 

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