ARIES PHOTOGRAPHY NOLA
SAMANTHA FISH
The annual Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival is usually headlined by a fiery blues-rock act — some of the recent examples include Joanne Shaw Taylor, Walter Trout, Davy Knowles and Rob Paparozzi’s Juke Joint — and this year is no exception, with singer-songwriter-guitarist Samantha Fish capping a day of free music on the Morristown Green with an 8 p.m. set.
Other performers, Aug. 16, will include King Solomon Hicks at 6 p.m.; Blues People at 4 p.m.; The Jazz Ambassadors (U.S. Army Big Band) at 2 p.m.; and Dani G. & Friends at noon. For information, visit morristownjazzandblues.org.
Fish, a Kansas City native, received a 2024 Grammy nomination in the Contemporary Blues Album for Death Wish Blues, a collaboration with Jesse Dayton, and has followed it, this year, with an equally strong album of her own, Paper Doll, which is the first album she has made with her touring band, during breaks in their busy touring schedule. This helps give it a raw, live-in-the-studio feel, which suits songs of purpose and defiance such as “I’m Done Runnin’ ” (“Whеn I look in the mirror, staring at the unknown/The world’s not getting clearer but I like where I’m goin’ “), “Lose You” (“You think you’re tough but you won’t be the one who’s leavin’ … I’m tired of giving and giving and giving and giving”) and the title track (“Don’t fold me to your figment, dressed up in doubt … You pin me up just to tear me down, I’m not your paper doll”), and leaves plenty of room for Fish’s guitar fireworks on songs like “Sweet Southern Sounds” (co-written with Anders Osborne) and “Rusty Razor.”
“With this record I took everything I had, and slammed it right on the table,” Fish has said.
I talked to her — about Paper Doll, the late Ozzy Osbourne, her future plans and more — by phone, last week.
The cover of Samantha Fish’s “Paper Doll” album.
Q: So I assume that, in Morristown, this will be the same band as on the Paper Doll album?
A: Yeah, it’s gonna be the same band. We’re traveling as a four-piece, so it’s just me, drums (Jamie Douglass), bass (Ron Johnson) and keyboard (Mickey Finn).
Q: Was the idea of recording the album with those musicians to try to get the feel of a live show on an album?
A: Yeah. That’s always a goal, too, because you want to make a record that can translate to the show. As much as I love making layered, lush records, we spend most of our time on stages, not studios. So you want to make something that can translate for both. That record was recorded in the midst of a really heavy summer tour and we had a deadline pop up with the record label. I had been writing and wanting to do a record, but when it took shape and the deadline was set, we really didn’t have any days off. So the challenge was to find studios in between touring dates, and make an album that way.
That definitely set up the live band to be the band on the record, and we really hit a good stride. We were gelling really well together. Our producer Bobby Harlow really liked the way the live band sounded. So it just kind of worked out.
Q: I assume the album figures heavily in your current shows.
A: Yeah, definitely. I’m kind of in a good spot, in a lot of ways. We have songs that people want to hear from our previous records. But I feel like anytime we roll out a new record … for me, it’s a challenge to create a live experience that’s different from the last time we came through a city. I always want to challenge the band, and build something bigger than the time before. And give people a reason to continue to come out and see you, because if you miss a show … it’s not going to be the same, the next time we come to town.
DOUG HARDESTY
SAMANTHA FISH
Q: Right. And also, just, the nature of the Paper Doll material. I mean, a song like “Sweet Southern Sounds” (listen below) is so explosive on the album. Why wouldn’t you do that at every concert?
A: Yeah, it’s definitely been one of the favorites that people have been kind of excited about, from the new record. And it was the first single — I don’t know if they call them singles anymore, but you know what I mean: one of the first tracks that they released to the public. That song has been going over really, really well. It’s a fun one to play, night after night.
Q: The song “I’m Done Runnin’ ” (listen below) seems to be about the beginning of a new phase of your life, or career. Can you tell me what inspired you to write that song?
A: Well, that’s one of the older songs on the record. That’s one that I had initially written for the Faster sessions. (Note: Fish’s Faster album came out in 2021). Sometime during the pandemic, I got on one of my very first Zoom calls — like, a Zoom writing session with some longtime writing partners, >Jim McCormick and Kate Pearlman. And I think it was kind of a song about … we were all trapped inside and it was something about … the way I wish I felt at the time, you know (laughs). I was writing from a wishful thinking perspective. But that song ended up sitting on the shelf for several years. And then it kind of takes on a different feeling when time passes. I sent it to my producer Bobby, and it’s just got a new life to it now. I’m glad that I waited to put it out, because it feels right for it to be living with these other songs.
Q: For a lot of people, I think the pandemic was the time to really re-evaluate things.
A: Yeah, absolutely. I spent most of my time writing. And the subject matter was really varied.
I think everybody kind of went through this roller coaster of emotions. So as a songwriter, you try to just capture a little edge of that. It’s interesting because I can’t even really channel the headspace I was in when I wrote that one. I was writing a lot of depressing material at that time (laughs), but that’s not one of the depressing songs. It’s just something that’s a little, I guess, optimistic — a little empowerment song. It didn’t really stick for the other record. But I feel like it’s found at home on this new one and people seem to like it and identify with it. That’s all you can hope for.
KING SOLOMON HICKS
Q: So this show in New Jersey … it’s a festival and the artist right before you is King Solomon Hicks. You’ve done shows with him before, right? (see video below)
A: I have, yes. He’s fantastic.
Q: Do you think you might do something with him, there?
A: I just found out he was gonna be there, but we have in the past. So we might, potentially, talk about it. But we’ll see how the day unfolds.
Q: I know you’ve performed (Black Sabbath’s) “War Pigs” in the past (watch below). Are you thinking of doing that as a tribute to Mr. Osbourne? (Note: Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22).
A: I mean, I love Ozzy and one of my biggest influences is Black Sabbath. But I haven’t done that song in a minute. I feel like … it’s such a killer song. We might pull it back out and dust it off. Who knows? The focus has kind of been solely on the new record, but I would love to pay tribute to Ozzy. He’s such an influence and big inspiration for so many musicians.
It’s always there, in the back pocket, for sure. We’d have to see if we could pull it off (laughs). We haven’t done it in a few years. It’s quite a structured piece of music.
Q: People think of them as a heavy metal band, of course. But they really started as a blues band.
A: That’s why we started doing that song: We were playing a lot of blues festivals where, I think, our sound was maybe not quite catered to the traditional, purist tastes. At some of these festivals, it felt like we were the odd man out and we started playing “War Pigs” (laughs) just because we were bratty kids, and also for that same sentiment of, like, Sabbath started as a blues band, and we’re blues band, so why not? Good music is good music and everything has roots and I like to showcase that a lot, in my performances: how rock ‘n’ roll is rooted in the blues. Drive that point home.
Q: Have you started to think about what your next album might be?
A: I’m starting to work on some songs. But it’s still kind of this shapeless thing. It’s going to take a while for it to really come together. I have a concept of where I’d like to go, but you know, the best laid plans, right?
Q: Right.
A: I tend to have a concept, and then what happens is you live your life and you write some songs, and what comes out is what comes out, and you’ve got to figure out if you can kind of mold it into the idea that you’re trying for. But sometimes, the most genuine, authentic thing you can do is just let the art be what it is, as it comes out.
The cover of the Samantha Fish/Jesse Dayton album, “Death Wish Blues.”
Q: Would you ever do an album with Jesse Dayton again?
A: We’ve talked about it. Maybe after a reasonable amount of time has passed for both of us, to concentrate on our own music. It’s something I’d love to bring Jon back in on: Jon Spencer was our producer.
That was a pretty special record and a special experience. But can we capture magic twice? It’s hard to know. But I think both of us are open to it. It’s just a matter of, are we in the right time, at the right place?
Q: Did being nominated for a Grammy, for that, help make more people aware of you? Did you get a boost, professionally, from that?
A: Maybe it created some name recognition. But it’s hard to see how these things affect you in real time. I can’t really quantify it.
But I think there’s a prestige to it, for sure. It’s a big honor, and you always want to be recognized by your peers. Definitely a little ego boost.
For more on Samantha Fish, visit samanthafish.com.
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