Coming fresh off the heels of a Halloween show at Stephen Talk House in the Hamptons, Samantha Fish brought her band to Homer Center for the Arts in Homer, New York on November 3. They laid down some voodoo, bulletproof blues to the 150 year old brick Baptist venue with the center stage having taken on a Jimi Hendrix “Electric Church” vibe this season.
This past Summer Fish performed a festival with Eric Gales who just played the Center in October. Alongside Gales and fellow blues disciples Robert Cray, Ana Popovic, and Kingfish who played the night before her at the Electric Church this season. Fish covered new material from her 12th official album release Faster. She spoke to NYS music about her journey of playing New York State over the years. This tour included stops in Brooklyn, Amagansett, Buffalo, Homer, and Albany.
Samantha Fish spoke with Matthew Romano of NYS Music about her thoughts on performing across New York State:
I remember we did the Dinosaur BBQ circuit for a while. It was always fun, the food was so killer, and the room so intimate. It took on a Groundhog day like vibe after a while there because it always so great. We got the run of the gamut from Buffalo down to these towns like Homer all the way to New York City.
My memories of playing Manhattan always stick out. I remember how special it was playing The Cutting Room for the first time. A different energy around those days, with that pressure of getting through the city and to the gig on time. Ya know that New York expectation after the ticket to the show is bought…OK I have to win Ya’ll over now but it keeps you on your toes. I love playing New York.
We have great people out this way. Its more or less about the people…they travel from all over to see us. This is my third time playing here at Homer Center for the Arts. What I love about this venue is that it is a listening room. The audience gets quiet at the right times and really can feel the music the way we do. A place like this tonight is a warm welcome from start to finish.
Samantha Fish
The eighteen-song set featured Samantha killing the slide on the legendary cigar box guitar. A similar style model Paul McCartney slid on “Cut Me Some Slack” at Madison Square Garden with Nirvana on December 12, 2012. “Bulletproof” off her Kill or Be Kind record kicked some 12 bar blues to close the show out…You got me trained to sit on a stage Not show my rage for you You got my love, it’s not enough I need to prove it to you.
Fish invited Jonathon Long out for the encore for a spin of a 1937 delta blues song “Shake Em on Down” by Bukka White. The same year this song was released the cigar box guitar had a resurgence and was heavily played in the jug band and delta blues scene circuit. A much needed source of entertainment in trying times. In true jug band fashion fashion Long used the Homer stage mic as a slide to accent Fish’s guitar to help close the evening out. If you caught a glimpse of the Center’s stained glass windows fogged up at the end of the night you know why. Catch Fish before she heads across the pond to Europe in 2022.
Samantha Fish – Homer Center for the Arts, Homer, NY – November 3rd 2021
Setlist: Loud, All Ice No Whiskey, Twisted Ambition, Chills and Fever, Forever Together, Highway, Hypnotic, Better Be Lonely, Kill or Be Kind, Watch it Die, Solo acoustic X2, Go Home, Bitch on the Run, So Called Lover, Faster, Dreamgirl, Bulletproof
Encore: Shake Em on Down with Jonathon Long
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