Great Barrington — Grammy-nominated blueswoman Samantha Fish is coming to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 16, for the start of her “Bulletproof” tour. She and her band will perform songs from her entire catalog, with blues duo Sgt. Splendor opening the show.
Samantha Fish has long been known in blues circles for her molten-hot electric guitar playing, powerful vocals, winning tunes, and rocking live shows. She has received literally dozens of recognitions from the blues community, and she is no stranger to the Billboard blues charts, where at least four of her releases have spent time at number one.
But this year, Samantha Fish is probably best known for the 2024 Grammy nomination that she and Jesse Dayton received for the Rounder Records release “Deathwish Blues” in the category of “Best Contemporary Blues Album.” However, it was the album itself, and the tunes on it, that really got the world’s attention.
I spoke with Samantha by telephone last week. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Have you played in the Berkshires before?
I’m not exactly sure …
That’s OK, because you are going to love playing the Mahaiwe. It’s a beautiful room, and you’ll have an enthusiastic crowd, because the Berkshires are full of serious blues aficionados. Robert Cray packed the place a year ago, and this year we’ve practically got a women’s blues festival, with you and Joanne Shaw Taylor appearing at the Mahaiwe just weeks apart.
Oh yeah! She’s fabulous!
I see that your “Bulletproof” tour starts this month. Who are the players in your lineup?
It’s the same band I did the “Loveletters” tour with last year: Jamie Douglass on drums, Ron Johnson on bass, and Mickey Finn on the keys.
On your current tour, will you include any songs from “Deathwish Blues,” the album you recorded with Jesse Dayton?
I haven’t made up my mind yet. Cause we’re still doing “Deathwish” dates. But I’m considering it.
How much leeway do you have to change your repertoire mid-tour?
Quite a bit.
The reason I ask is that you have so many great songs to choose from. Which brings me to my favorite subject of the day: Martin Kierszenbaum, your co-songwriter and producer on the album “Faster.” Holy moly!
Oh yeah! Martin! He’s amazing. I was so lucky to get to work with him!
I rarely refer to record producers as geniuses, but Martin Kierszenbaum is an unavoidable exception. Having heard your vocals on other recordings, I was comfortable thinking of you as a fully capable blues singer. Then I heard where Martin took things, and I was stunned, really. He seems to have transformed you—at least for those sessions—into an R&B singer worthy of comparison with the best.
Thank you! That’s what I love about collaboration. Sometimes when you dive into something completely new, you can really get out of your comfort zone and … you know, I couldn’t have fathomed writing songs like the ones on that record. But collaborators can inspire something different, their approach is different, and Martin and I got along very, very well. We both had a similar goal in mind with that album. It was a great collision of styles and a great collaboration.
Your vocal performances on “Faster” are remarkable for their departure from your own singing past.
I’ve been stretching on my vocals for a long time, even as far back as the “Chills & Fever” record. Back then, in 2016, we were doing covers from the ’50s and ’60s, and I was trying to channel some of those amazing R&B and soul singers. Every album calls for a different approach. So it’s good to allow yourself the opportunity to evolve in the studio. Martin definitely pushed me in some good directions. And the Foo Fighters’ Josh Freese was on drums. He’d kill it in a blues band! That man can play anything!
It’s fun to get into the studio with people like that, but also a little bit scary, too.
It’s sets the bar really high. You have to just try to catapult yourself above it. There’s no time for questioning your place in the room. Then, when you get there, you just own it, and run with it, and make something great.
Well, you really rose to the occasion, and the result is delightful. There’s definitely some kind of alchemy going on, with your blues background and Martin’s extremely varied experience as a songwriter and producer. It’s a magical combination that struck me as very special.
Good! It’s supposed to! I really appreciate that.
Are you doing any tunes from “Faster” on your current tour?
Sure! Because this is an opportunity to revisit my catalog. The last solo tour I did before “Deathwish” was very much a faster leaning set. So I think this time the smart move for me is gonna be to switch it up a little bit—give people something new to look forward to. We’ll definitely be playing some material off of that album, but I’m also choosing stuff from my back catalog.
It’s really great as an artist to be able to revisit the older songs, too, because, you know, you’ve changed since the last time you played them, and now it’s like a whole, new, fresh perspective. My life has changed, so I interpret the lyrics differently. Or my performance style has changed. There’s a lot of variables, and it’s really fun.
Having lived through the 1970s, I’ve long thought of Bonnie Raitt as the archetype of the blues woman.
Absolutely!
But it’s only recently occurred to me that a woman-led blues band in 2024, authentic and grounded in history as it may be, is bound to reflect vocal influences that didn’t exist in the 1970s. There was no Hip-Hop. There was no Alicia Keys. No Mariah Carey. So Bonnie didn’t have the benefit of hearing all the people who have shaped your own singing style.
Yeah, but … you’re just of your time, right?
Yup!
She was influenced by all kinds of jazz singers, too, and country music …
And even Broadway …
We all have our own collection of influences, and that’s what makes us unique as performers. I grew up in the ’90s, the early 2000s, and it all seeps in: Hip-Hop, pop music, I liked rock …
And you’ve even made music that can be classified as country.
Oh yeah! I love Americana …
And you pulled it off very nicely …
Thanks! I appreciate it.
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Hear Samantha Fish at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, on Saturday, March 16, at 8 p.m. Tickets are available here or by calling (413) 528-0100.
