Fish Data

BMA Winner for Best New Blues Artist 2012, Samantha Fish makes much of her growing maturity on her second solo album ‘Black Wind Howlin’. Given the wide variety of relationship songs and a mix of reflective and self confident narratives, it appears she’s taken stock and come out the other side with a clearer sense of who she is.

'Weltschmerz' is the much anticipated new and final double studio album from Fish that is being acclaimed as the finest work of his long and illustrious career. Co written with long term collaborators Steve Vantsis and Robin Boult with contributions from John Mitchell (Garden of Remembrance) and Foss Paterson it has been over 3 years in the making and as such is an exceptional piece of work produced by Calum Malcolm (Blue Nile, Fish 'Feast of Consequences' and '13th Star') and Steve Vantsis.

Samantha Fish’s prodigious gifts as a genre-bending singer, songwriter, and electrifying guitarist have inspired tremendous acclaim from critics and her peers and have earned an abundance of awards for the young artist. Now, with Kill or Be Kind, Fish is poised for a major breakthrough. The edgy roots music album was recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis and produced by three-time Grammy winner Scott Billington and mixed by two-time Grammy winner Steve Reynolds. Boasting 11 original songs ranging from the Mississippi technostomp of “Bulletproof” (played on cigar box guitar) to the sweet Memphis R&B of “Trying Not To Fall in Love With You,” the album features co-writes with Jim McCormack, Eric McFadden, Parker Millsap, Katie Pearlman, and Patrick Sweany and is sure to establish Fish as a potent force in roots music.

Sushi was recorded live at the Vredenburg Hall in Utrecht in 1993. Another concert CD in the long line of live Fish recordings, sees the ex-Marillion vocalist taking up residency in Utrecht's Vredenburg Hall for a pair of spirited shows. Sushi captures night number two. Touring in support of his covers album, Songs From the Mirror, the evening's set is peppered with a slew of cover versions, including the Pink Floyd opener "Fearless," Argent's "Hold Your Head Up," T-Rex's "Jeepster," Alex Harvey's "Boston Tea Party," and the David Bowie classic "Five Years." Sprinkled in between are potent readings of Marillion's classic drug anthem "He Knows You Know," replete with massive Dutch crowd-chorus participation…

Following the release of Marillion’s June 1987 album, Clutching at Straws, with its darker exploration of excess, alcoholism, and life on the road representing the strains of constant touring, Fish took the decision to depart from the band to pursue a solo career. Fish’s debut solo album, Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, was released in January 1990. Several well-known musicians contributed to the record, including former Dire Straits guitarist Hal Lindes, who played guitar on most tracks and also contributed to the writing of three of the album’s songs. Frank Usher, a Fish companion from pre-Marillion times, also contributed.

Songs from the Mirror was the third studio album that Fish released and it was the second of his two albums to fulfill his contract for Polydor. Fish needed more time to write a new album and he decided that to complete his current contract he would release an album of cover versions, an idea first conceived when he was with Marillion. The band was the same as the previous album except that Foster "Foss" Paterson replaced Mickey Simmonds as he had done on the tour. The songs chosen were personal favorites of Fish and are not all prog rock tracks as may have been thought from listening to his music. Of the tracks on the album, a number are fairly faithful to the originals; "Question" (Moody Blues), "Boston Tea Party" (Sensational Alex Harvey Band), and "Jeepster" (T. Rex). Fish did tend to adapt the slower songs on the album (e.g. Pink Floyd's "Fearless" and Sandy Denny's "Solo") to his own vocal style and his added depth to the music…