1 	Miles To Go 	
2 	Kick Around 	
3 	Go To Hell 	
4 	Sucker Born 	
5 	Over You 	
6 	Who's Been Talkin' 	
7 	Lay It Down 	
8 	Let's Have Some Fun 	
9 	Heartbreaker 	
10 	Foolin' Me 	
11 	Black Wind Howlin' 	
12 	Last September 	

Bass – Charlie Wooton
Drums – Yonrico Scott
Producer, Guitar, Vocals – Mike Zito
Vocals, Guitar – Samantha Fish
+
Fiddle – Bo Thomas
Harmolnica - Jumpin' Johnny Sansone
Vocals - Paul Thorn

Kansas City’s Samantha Fish has enjoyed a pretty meteoric rise over the last few years. She was part of the Ruf Records ‘Girls With Guitars’ package alongside Danni Wilde and Cassie Taylor, has played on the Blues Cruise and recorded a debut CD with Mike Zito at the controls. For her sophomore release Mike returns as producer but this time around he has brought along some of his colleagues from The Royal Southern Brotherhood: Yonrico Scott on drums and Charlie Wootton on bass. Mike adds occasional guitar and vocals, Paul Thorn sings on one track, Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone plays harp on two and Bo Thomas plays fiddle on one. All the material bar one track is original, Mike Zito co-writing one song.

On her debut album there were arguably too many gentle songs but this time around there is a tougher edge, well exemplified by the opening cut “Miles To Go” which starts the album at a terrific pace, Samantha cutting loose on her cigar box guitar over a frenetic rhythm, a song about being on the road, travelling long distances to meet one’s obligations. “Sucker Born” features Johnny Sansone’s harp and Samantha’s strong vocals on a song about the ‘disease’ of gambling. There is quite an angry feel to this one, as there is on “Go To Hell”, the co-write with Mike Zito and a shared vocal with Paul Thorn. Samantha’s guitar digs deep in her solo, the wah-wah matching the angry tone of the lyrics. The title track “Black Wind Howlin’” is the longest track here and finds Samantha harmonising with her own slide playing before cutting loose on guitar on a song that owes something to the North Mississippi Hill Country Blues tradition.

Those who like Samantha’s gentler side will love “Over You” on which the shimmering background guitars sound like organ accompaniment while Samantha’s lead lines are effective in conveying the emotion of the song. In similar vein, the album closer “Last September” finds Samantha in almost country mode, a feeling reinforced by Bo Thomas’ fiddle playing and Samantha’s single note plucking. Howling Wolf’s “Who’s Been Talking?” is also covered in relaxed mode, Johnny Sansone’s harp working extremely well with Samantha’s vocals. “Let’s Have Some Fun” is an acoustic piece but Samantha’s strong vocal makes you forget that as she tells us how she’s “…not your sweet little girl, I’m not your friend, not anymore.”

“Heartbreaker” is a catchy rocker in which the lyrics are almost a response to “Let’s Have Some Fun” as here it’s the guy who is always likely to let Samantha down, so she gets rid of him first! Some excellent slide playing here is well supported by some explosive drumming. “Foolin’ Me” ploughs a similar furrow lyrically with strong vocals and a good hook. “Lay It Down” is another mid-paced rocker with an insistent riff and a cautionary tale: “Devil’s knocking at my door, I ain’t home, it’s just a quarter past four, ‘cause me and Jimmy been sitting at the bar, drinking gin and playing cards. Got the ace up his sleeve, got a pistol on my side and if he pulls first I’m gonna give it to him right.” Is it always like this on a Saturday night out with Samantha, one wonders? Possibly the strongest cut on the album is “Kick Around” on which Mike Zito contributes the lead guitar part, a really catchy number with some upbeat country accents and a rousing chorus.

This is an accomplished album which will certainly help to cement Samantha’s growing reputation in the blues and blues-rock world. ---John Mitchell, bluesblastmagazine.com

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1. American Dream
2. Blood In The Water
3. Need You More
4. Cowtown
5. Daughters
6. Don’t Say You Love Me
7. Belle Of The West
8. Poor Black Mattie
9. No Angels
10. Nearing Home
11. Gone For Good

2017 release from the blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Fish recorded Belle of the West in the relaxed, rural creative atmosphere of the legendary Zebra Ranch Studios in the North Hills of Mississippi with producer Luther Dickinson (of North Mississippi Allstars fame), with whom she worked previously on her 2015 album Wild Heart. The studio team included some of the region's most iconoclastic musicians, including Dickinson, solo artist and Jack White associate Lillie Mae, much-traveled juke-joint blues artist Lightnin' Malcolm, Squirrel Nut Zippers founder Jimbo Mathus, upright bassist and beloved solo artist Amy LaVere, Tikyra Jackson, Trina Raimey and Shardé Thomas, granddaughter of the legendary Southern bluesman Otha Turner. ---Editorial Reviews

Samantha Fish recorded Belle of the West in the relaxed, rural creative atmosphere of the legendary Zebra Ranch Studios in the North Hills of Mississippi with producer Luther Dickinson (of North Mississippi Allstars fame), with whom she worked previously on her 2015 album Wild Heart. The studio team included some of the region’s most iconoclastic musicians, including Dickinson, solo artist and Jack White associate Lillie Mae (whose distinctive vocals are featured on “Nearing Home”), much-traveled juke-joint blues artist Lightnin’ Malcolm (whose featured on “Poor Black Mattie”), Squirrel Nut Zippers founder Jimbo Mathus, upright bassist and beloved solo artist Amy LaVere, Tikyra Jackson, Trina Raimey and Shardé Thomas, granddaughter of the legendary Southern bluesman Otha Turner. “I wanted to do this acoustic-electric record, and tap into the style and swagger of Mississippi,” Fish states, adding, “Any time you dive into another place, another vibe and a new group of people, you’re challenging yourself to grow musically. I felt very at home a Zebra Ranch, and I’ve known Luther and Malcolm for years, so it was a very comfortable situation. When you’re making a record like this, it has to feel natural if you want people to respond to it. Belle of the West follows on the heels of Fish’s March 2017 release Chills & Fever, which achieved top 10 status in the Billboard Blues charts. Here she expanded her stylistic arsenal to take on a set of lesser-known vintage R&B gems, with help from members of garage-soul stalwarts the Detroit Cobras. “Having these two very different records come out back to back this year has been really liberating,” says Samantha. The creative drive that fuels Belle of the West and Chills & Fever has been a crucial element of Samantha Fish’s approach from the beginning. --- bluesmagazine.nl

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01. He Did It (3:00)
02. Chills & Fever (3:19)
03. Hello Stranger (4:22)
04. It's Your Voodoo Working (3:39)
05. Hurt's All Gone (3:43)
06. You Can't Go (4:03)
07. Either Way I Lose (5:27)
08. Never Gonna Cry (4:12)
09. Little Baby (2:56)
10. Nearer to You (3:24)
11. You'll Never Change (3:11)
12. Crow Jane (3:31)
13. Somebody's Always Trying (6:03)
14. I'll Come Running Over (3:24)

Samantha Fish - Guitar, Vocals
Travis Blotsky - Saxophone
Mark Levron - Trumpet
Ben Luckett - Layout
Joey Mazzola - Guitar (Rhythm)
Bob Mervak - Piano (Electric)
Steve Nawara - Guitar (Bass)
Kenny Tudrick – Drums

A blues musician from Kansas City, Missouri, Samantha Fish impressed industry professionals as a teenager before scoring her first Billboard blues number one in her mid-twenties. Fish grew up in a musical family with a variety of genres, including a steady diet of classic rock radio. Her father played guitar and would sometimes jam with friends at the family house. Young Samantha started out as a drummer but switched to guitar at the age of 15. As a teen, she would sneak into local blues landmark the Knuckleheads Saloon to hear touring musicians, and began sitting in with them from time to time after she became legal at 18.

In 2009, Fish recorded the live album Live Bait as the Samantha Fish Blues Band, and the rock-edged guitar work brought her to the attention of Ruf Records. The label featured her alongside Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde on the 2011 release Girls with Guitars, which featured covers of the Rolling Stones and the Steve Miller Band as well as original material from the three guitarist/singer/songwriters. Later that same year, Fish released her solo debut, Runaway, also with Ruf Records. It was produced by mentor and frequent collaborator Mike Zito.

She saw her first chart success with her sophomore LP, Black Wind Howlin', also produced by Zito. It hit the Billboard Heatseekers chart and reached the Top Ten of the blues albums chart upon release in 2013. She followed it with Wild at Heart in 2015, which became a blues number one. ---Marcy Donelson, allmusic.com

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01 - Runaway
02 - Foolin' Me
03 - Another Saturday Night
04 - Who's Been Talkin'
05 - Gone For Good
06 - Samantha's Talk #1
07 - Down in the Swamp
08 - Tennessee Plates
09 - Mony to Born
10 - Go to Hell
11 - Jim Lee's Blues
12 - Dead Flowers
13 - Last September
14 - Shake em on Down
15 - I Rut a Spell on You
16 - Black Wind Howlin'
17 - Encore
16 - Black W
18 - Samantha's Talk #2
19 - War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)

Samantha Fish – guitar, vocals
Mike Zito - guitar
Yonrico Scott - drums
Charlie Wooton - bass
Paul Thorn - vocals

Kansas City-based Samantha Fish has been on a major roll ever since she teamed up with Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde on Ruf’s 2011 release, Girls with Guitars, and fueled by the trio’s Blues Caravan tour of Europe and the U.S., created an international buzz in the blues world. Later that same year she recorded Runaway, her solo debut on Ruf, which mixed gutsy riff-blues rockers like “Down In The Swamp” with the mellow small-hours jazz of “Feelin’ Alright,” while marinating her songwriting in the groove of the Rolling Stones and even tipping a hat to Heart. “It’s all the sounds I grew up with,” she explained at the time, “with my own spin.” Earlier this year Samantha joined label mate Devon Allman for a sultry duet of the Tom Petty classic, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” that appeared on Devon’s Turquoise CD and accompanying video. Hitting a receptive international blues and rock press, Runaway was hailed as a thrilling opening statement, earning a string of rave reviews and radio airplay, climaxed by her winning the Blues Music Award (BMA) for “Best New Artist Debut” in 2012. “I’m truly humbled by the recognition,” Samantha said afterward. “I can barely wait to make record number two… This recent concert even includes for your head banger side a cover of Black Sabbath War Pigs! -- soundaboard.blogspot.com

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01 - Road Runner	 [00:03:25]
02 - Place To Fall 	[00:06:07]
03 - Blame It On The Moon	 [00:03:35]
04 - Highway's Holding Me Now	 [00:04:25]
05 - Go Home	 [00:06:01]
06 - Jim Lee Blues Pt.1 	[00:03:53]
07 - Turn It Up 	[00:03:39]
08 - Show Me 	[00:04:54]
09 - Lost Myself 	[00:06:04]
10 - Wild Heart	 [00:03:37]
11 - Bitch On The Run 	[00:03:14]
12 - I'm In Love With You	 [00:03:57]

Samantha Fish – vocals, guitar
Luther Dickinson - various stringed instruments
Brady Blade – drums
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Lightnin Malcolm – guitar
Sharde Thomas – drums
Shontelle Norman-Beatty, Risse Norman – backing vocals

Wild Heart began with a trip to Nashville, Tennessee to work with Grammy winning songwriter, Jim McCormick. This was the first hint that something about this new album was going to be different from the hard-edged blues for which Fish is already famous. The first track, “Road Runner”, reminiscent of Miranda Lambert’s “White Liar” but with a more roots feel, will make fans sit up and immediately take notice.

Fish then enlisted Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi All Stars fame to produce the project as well as providing bass, mandolin, guitar and lap steel throughout. You can feel that hill country influence right down to your bones.

The slide guitar work on “Blame It On the Moon” is gritty and enticing and her cover of Junior Kimbrough’s “I’m In Love With You” which was recorded with hill country musicians Sharde’ Thomas (Othar Turner’s Granddaughter) and Lightnin’ Malcolm brings the live feel of a jug band session right into your ears. One of only two cover songs, the other being Charley Patton’s “Jim Lee Blues Pt. 1″, it reminds us that not all blues is electric and it didn’t all come from the Delta. These two covers were recorded at Zebra Ranch in Coldwater, Mississippi and if you pay close attention, you can almost hear beads of sweat dripping on to the floor and smell the magnolia blossoms on the summer breeze.

Almost every one of the twelve songs on this album was recorded in one or two takes without the use of distortion pedals or other gadgetry and Fish proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they weren’t required. Her guitar work is overall tight and clean and her voice…oh her voice…has a weight and authority that belie her 25 years. These two facets combine perfectly on “Bitch On The Run” which takes us back to the blues-rock feel that made us fall in love with her in the first place. But even on this track the Gospel backing vocals, provided by Shontelle Norman-Beatty and Risse Norman, lend an ethereal quality which polishes the rough edge into a sleek, smooth gem. “Turn It Up”, “Show Me” and the title track are more indications that Fish hasn’t completely unplugged.

This is an almost live. Americana/Roots/Blues album of love songs from the road. Without one standard or shuffle in the mix, it was obviously a labor of love, recorded in four studios in Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana and even packaged in an old school style with the CD looking like a miniature LP (and yes you can even feel the grooves). Fish didn’t step out of her comfort zone, she matured into it and is letting everyone know that she won’t be pigeon-holed into a genre and that there is no taming her Wild Heart. --- americanbluesscene.com

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