Grammy Award nominated blues singer and guitarist Samantha Fish lights up every stage on which she performs. Fish will illuminate the John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival (JCIJBF) on Saturday, August 31, 2024 in High Point, NC. She received her first Grammy nomination for “Best Contemporary Blues Album” for the 2023 release Death Wish Blues, a collaboration with Jesse Dayton.
Samantha Fish Nurtured By the Blues
Fish has made her name as a festival headliner who delivers an unbridled form of blues rock that defies all boundaries. She effortlessly blends blues, rock, and soul, creating a unique sound. Known for her fretwork, Fish is also an astute and nuanced storyteller. The New York Times said she was an impressive blues guitarist and one of the genre’s most promising young talents. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, she started out playing the drums before switching to guitar at age 15. While growing up, Fish frequented the local Kansas City clubs to hear the blues artists who came to town. The mainstay was Knuckles Saloon where at age 18, she began sitting-in with whoever happened to be playing.
Performing Live Is Key
She recorded and produced her first album Live Bait in 2009. Her second release, Runaway, won the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist. Fish released a succession of studio albums between 2013 and 2017 including Black Wind Howlin’, Chills & Fever, and Belle of the West. She then signed with the Rounder Records label and released Kill or Be Kind in 2019. For Fish, one of the greatest joys in making music is the powerful exchange at her live shows. “Anytime I play live,” she says, “ I just want to make people forget about everything else in the world and feel that same joy that I feel on stage.”
Over the course of her career Fish has brought extraordinary power of self-expression through her unbridled playing and intuitive delivery of her passionate and earthy lyrics. Whether she is singing a soulful blues rocker or baring her soul with an acoustic ballad, Samantha Fish’s live performances are a testament to her status as a true musical powerhouse.
