Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute To Harry Smith) Sam Amidon

• 1 Spike Driver Blues 04:33
• 2 Fatal Flower Garden 03:45
• 3 Dry Bones 04:07
• 4 Train on the Island 02:14
• Total Runtime 14:39

Info for Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute To Harry Smith)

A four-track album from singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Amidon, is due November 15, 2019, on Nonesuch Records. Amidon first publicly performed the songs on this EP—all of which were on Smith’s beloved and influential Anthology of American Folk Music—for a concert commissioned by Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium, as part of its large-scale Anthology tribute. Fatal Flower Garden was recorded over two days in East London with Amidon and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily playing all the instruments; Leo Abrahams engineered, produced, and mixed. The 7” EP is available to preorder from the Nonesuch Store with an instant download of his take on Mississippi John Hurt's “Spike Driver Blues."

Amidon says: “Fatal Flower Garden is my tribute to the elusive spirit of Harry Smith and to his wondrous Anthology of American Folk Music. Harry Smith believed in the secret connections and mysteries that existed in culture ... whether it was the feeling of Thelonious Monk’s rhythmic phrasing; the patterns in string games and Ukrainian egg painting designs; the wild fiddle tunes; or the epic folk ballads. He understood American Folk Music to be a wildly heterogeneous category that included multiple cultural, racial, and linguistic elements.”

He continues, “I love listening through the Anthology for its window in to 1920s musical practices in all their varied glory, but also for the silent consciousness of Harry Smith behind the whole thing. You can picture him listening to the recordings, expounding his theories about the connections between them, and digging all of it.”

Sam Amidon, vocals, guitar

Sam Amidon
Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/artist Samuel Tear (aka Sam Amidon) began playing fiddle at the age of three. Raised by musician parents on a steady diet of Irish and Appalachian folk in Brattleboro, VT, Amidon spent the early arc of his teens performing and recording traditional dance and Avant-folk music with his parents, as well as his own group, Assembly.

He added banjo and guitar to his repertoire after relocating to New York City, where he began collaborating with longtime friend Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), as well as a host of other acts like Tall Firs, the Swell Season, and Stares.

He released his debut album, Solo Fiddle, in 2003, followed in 2007 by But This Chicken Proved False Hearted and All Is Well in 2008. Amidon married singer/songwriter Beth Orton and the two had a son in 2011. Output remained strong from Amidon as he entered into family life, with new volumes arriving in the form of 2009's duet with percussionist Aaron Siegel Fiddle & Drum, 2010's I See The Sign and 2013's Bright Sunny South.

Booklet for Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute To Harry Smith)