SAM AMIDON

Event information

"It's official. Sam Amidon has burnt everything to the ground. It smells good, now that the rain has come. I can see the tips of blades rising" JUSTIN VERNON (BON IVER)

"Very little of Amidon's material is 'original': a folk singer in the traditional sense, what he does is craft old songs in new ways... His originality impresses throughout... it is startling, moving stuff." - THE GUARDIAN

Nonesuch Records releases Sam Amidon's label debut Bright Sunny South on May 13th. Produced by Amidon with his childhood friend and longtime collaborator Thomas Bartlett (a.k.a. Doveman) and legendary English engineer Jerry Boys (Buena Vista Social Club, Vashti Bunyan, R.E.M.) and recorded in London, the record features a band made up of Bartlett and multi-instrumentalists Shahzad Ismaily and Chris Vatalaro. Jazz trumpeter Kenny Wheeler also makes a cameo. Amidon himself not only sings but also plays banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and piano on the album.

It includes the single 'My Old Friend', which Pitchfork describes as, "A pristine 'Thank you for the days' tune. Amidon's distinctively burring voice and oddly elongated phrasing has always given his music a faint hint of otherworldliness; it's not one he plays up here, but it is still present, and it is the fingerprint on his glowing, affectionate music." .

The Vermont-born and raised, London-based Amidon is known for his reworking of traditional melodies into a new form. In addition to country ballads and shape-note hymns, Bright Sunny South features interpretations of traditional and contemporary songs, including Tim McGraw's 'My Old Friend' and Mariah Carey's 'Shake It Off'. The record also includes a version of 'Weeping Mary', a shape-note hymn that his parents, Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, had recorded with the Vermont-based Word of Mouth Chorus for Nonesuch Records on the 1977 disc Rivers of Delight: American Folk Hymns From the Sacred Harp Tradition.

Bright Sunny South follows 2010's critically acclaimed I See the Sign, which earned Amidon praise from SPIN for his "Quirky alchemy... contrasting pretty sounds with violent lyrical undercurrents" and Pitchfork, which said, "[Amidon's] interpretations are so singular that it stops mattering how (or if) they existed before."

Prior to I See the Sign, which was released on the Iceland-based label Bedroom Community, Amidon released But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted (Plug Research, 2007) and All Is Well (Bedroom Community, 2008). In addition to his solo albums, Amidon has collaborated on performances pieces with musical polymath Nico Muhly, toured as part of Thomas Bartlett's group Doveman and the Brooklyn band Stars Like Fleas, collaborated with Beth Orton, and embarked on a series of live shows with the guitarist Bill Frisell.

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Leo Abrahams is a pioneering ambient artist and often works with complex arrangements and pioneering use of guitar-generated textures. He has collaborated with Brian Eno, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker and Paul Simon. He's also co-written or arranged a variety of film soundtracks, including Peter Jackson's 'The Lovely Bones' and Steve McQueen's 'Hunger'.

Chris Vatalaro is an immensely creative drummer and percussionist, originally from upstate New York, US, and now is based in London. A multi-instrumentalist, Vatalaro has been playing in Brooklyn Aphrobeat band Antibalas since 2003.

For more information see:

www.pulluptheroots.co.uk
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