Faster Samantha Fish

• 1Faster02:55
• 2All Ice No Whiskey03:09
• 3Twisted Ambition03:14
• 4Hypnotic03:09
• 5Forever Together02:53
• 6Crowd Control04:18
• 7Imaginary War03:09
• 8Loud04:53
• 9Better Be Lonely03:40
• 10So-Called Lover03:05
• 11Like A Classic03:47
• 12All The Words04:35
• Total Runtime42:47

Info for Faster

Samantha Fish has received practically every accolade a contemporary blues singer / songwriter / guitarist could hope for. She's a festival headliner with multiple Blues Music Awards, who has graced the cover of guitar magazines and toured internationally to packed houses. Fish commands her cathartic shows with her edgy vocal delivery and in-your-face slide guitar.

For her seventh album, Faster, she sought to expand her sound beyond trad blues-rock and capture the attitude and energy of her live performances. She crafted her strongest set of songs yet with the help of producer Martin Kierszenbaum, expanding her sound beyond her blues-rock comfort zone to encompass hard rock, electro pop, and retro soul.

The result is a highly enjoyable set of sharply composed songs that prominently feature Fish's searing lead guitar and sultry vocals, delivered with a punkish sneer. Kierszenbaum's keyboards bring a pop counterpoint to Fish's rock attitude, over a propulsive rhythm section featuring Josh Freese and Diego Naviara.

Faster is an exciting departure for an artist who is just hitting her stride: she has captured her thrilling live sound on a collection of recordings that promises to break new ground and reach new fans around the world. Like the title song says, it'll make your heart beat faster.

Samantha Fish, guitar, vocals
Hannah Brier, guitar
Martin Kierszenbaum, guitar, keyboards, drums
Diego Navaira, bass
Josh Freese, drums

Samantha Fish
Just a few months ago, very few people outside Kansas City, Missouri knew there was a young, dynamic musician named Samantha Fish getting ready to take the world by storm. In fact, it's not all that long ago that the 22-year-old singer/guitarist first discovered the blues and started paying her dues on that city's local scene. With Runaway, her solo debut, she now breaks out big time, announcing herself as a newcomer to be reckoned with.

The album's ten tracks - nine of them originals - incorporate "all the sounds I grew up with, with my own spin," says Fish, who seems to have spent her formative years in the Midwest soaking up a vast array of musical styles. Runaway features sharp-edged, riff-driven blues ("Down in the Swamp"), breakneck boogies ("Runaway"), smoky, late-night jazz ("Feelin' Alright") as well as hints of the sultry 70s hard rock of Ann and Nancy Wilson and the 4/4 ruggedness of the Rolling Stones. Throughout, Fish demonstrates astonishing range and depth as a songwriter. Her vocals are cool, confident and nothing less than beguiling.

Backing her on this eclectic collection of modern electric blues is the same crack team that first convened for the making of Girls With Guitars. That collaboration with fellow female artists Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde, released earlier this year, already showed that Fish refuses to be intimidated, even when working with musicians more experienced than herself. "They are incredibly talented and creative, so it made for fun sessions," she says of the well-oiled studio band heard on Runaway. Jamie Little, one of the UK's most in-demand drummers, reunites with bassist Cassie Taylor to give the record plenty of rhythmic thump. Producer Mike Zito, a St. Louis native and 2010 Blues Music Award winner, adds thick, meaty electric guitar on most cuts. "Mike and I have known each other for a few years now, so he knew the sound and style I was after. He did a great job of taking ideas and giving them direction in the studio setting."

In between making these first two albums, Fish spent a month on the road with Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde for the first leg of the year-long Blues Caravan Tour. It gave her the valuable opportunity to road-test the material heard on Runaway to a discriminating audience. With an exciting new debut album now in her back pocket, the tour continues throughout the summer and into the fall of 2011, touching down at many European and North American festivals and even taking to the seas on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise in October.

This album contains no booklet.