The Hardest Working Woman in Heels
Rhapsodic is a word that well describes musician Samantha Fish.
Walking out on stage in skin-tight leather clothes and impossibly-tall high heels, wielding her guitar like a weapon, and shaking her platinum blonde curls with every note, Samantha captivates her audience with hot riffs and flair that are so hard to come by nowadays. The bombshell blues maker is hellbent on bringing authentic, meaningful music to stages across the world and reinvigorating a scene that inspired her to pick up the guitar when she was just a child.
Kansas City, Missouri-born Samantha Fish has climbed through the ranks to be known as one of the coolest blues musicians alive today, though there are gatekeepers out there who feel that her brand of the blues isn't traditional enough to be included in the genre. "Is it allowed to evolve? Do you still call it blues if it's evolved beyond the traditional form?" Samantha questioned. "I guess there's a fine line between what the purists' stance would consider watering down a genre—including too many things and taking away from what the root of it is—and what other people think—this is just expanding or understanding of it. This is just the next evolution and if you don't let music evolve, it dies.'"
As she started out playing small venues in her hometown and surrounding areas, the blues enthusiasts were "middle-aged/older" people who preferred traditional blues. Samantha's ambition grew, and so did her repertoire. "As I've put out different albums, we've touched on Americana and put out a record that touched on pop and rock 'n' roll. I see different ages at our show, and it depends on the region. When we go out to the West Coast, I see a diverse crowd. The East Coast tends to be a little older. It's exciting to me to see the demographic change because I want to connect to as many people as possible."
Samantha Fish is one of many younger artists who are indulging in sounds and styles that could be considered nostalgic due to the lack of computer-created beats and performing over backing tracks. The hard work of Samantha and her peers, including Billy Strings and Lindsey Stirling, is paying off in having fans of all ages, sold-out shows, and headlining at huge venues. Samantha said, "There's lots of young players out there. Gary Clark Jr. comes to mind as someone who's at the forefront of blues that's pushing it forward and doing really, really well with it. I think that there's a passion for people with instruments and live instrumentation, and we're on a good track."
Though she calls New Orleans home now, she is often on the road. Touring is nearly the only income stream for musicians as physical album sales have given way to streaming, and streaming is not paying out in the way that CDs used to. "You see the increase in streams and the decline of sales. You can see where things are headed. I think sometimes we just make albums to fulfill a tour because that's where all the money is these days. We've all been forced out onto the road, and it's expensive. It's almost impossible to break even," Samantha honestly stated.
Still, she loves being out on the road, playing guitar, and singing her heart out for her growing number of fans. It's that commitment to engaging, memory-making live performance that Samantha feels will save music for future generations. She mused, "You see the trajectory that modern music is taking, and you have all these scary articles about AI songs being made on computers that's the furthest thing away from someone playing an instrument. The more popular that gets, I think there's going to be a desire for authentic performance and real connection. I really do. That's why music has been this universal tool that connects all of us—through language, through everything. Music is in all of us. As long as people are seeking it out, there's going to be a demand for it. I think there's always going to be people wanting that real connection and that real feeling, and you can only get it from other humans."
Whether on the road or right here in her city, Samantha Fish's talent is undeniable. Not only is she a skilled guitarist and vocalist, winning awards and garnering top slots on the charts, she is getting the attention of people who otherwise may have never heard or seen someone play rollicking, soulful blues. "You have to create moments for people," she said about how to capture and keep that attention in a world full of noise in an age of miniscule attention spans. And Samantha is happy with how things have turned out for her since picking up the guitar as a kid. "As far as I'm concerned, my version of the blues is doing pretty well. I've got my head down, and I'm grinding out tour dates."
