Samantha Fish - Chills & Fever (2017)

► Get the album at the usual place...

Doctor Sam and Miss Fish

Who could believe this young woman, a real preppy daddy's girl during daylight, would turn after sunset into a hot guitar-slinger and roaring singer casting bad spells of chills and fever with her muscular blues-based blend ! Must be some voodoo working here !

Cataloged as a song-writer, Fish didn't write one single song on this album ! Considered as a blues-rocker, she turned her back to blues-rock to look toward the Motown sound, metamorphosing into a soul-rocker. Logically she went to Detroit, the Motown city, to record her fifth solo studio album with members of The Detroit Cobras band and producer Bobby Harlow.

The album rolls from soul to R'n'B, sprinkled with pinches of country and reggae, and some Texas blues echoes. With her short skirts, high heel shoes and retro hair style, the little lady turns big as soon as she straps her cigar-box guitar around her neck and starts to open her mouth to deliver heavy vocal performances, for example on the opening track, "He Did It", a song certainly not easy to sing.

Most of the tracks of this Motown flavored album are either mellow and melodious soul numbers like the melancholic "Hello Stranger" driven by a soft reggae-ish beat with nice organ/electric piano and horns, "Hurt's All Gone", Fenton Robinson's "Never Gonna Cry", "Nearer to You"; or more rhythmic R'n'B tracks like the exciting "It's Your Voodoo Working" written in 1961 by Louisiana musician Charles Sheffield, "You Can't Go", "Either Way I Lose", the jumping country-flavored "Little Baby", Allen Toussaint's swampy "You'll Never Change”, the muscular "Somebody's Always Trying", and the final "I'll Come Running Over".

In between, she offers the solid reggae "Chills & Fever", and the nasty Mississippi/Memphis sound of "Crow Jane" with distorted slide guitar and megaphone effect on her voice.

More discreet on guitar solos than usual, especially during her concerts, in this album, Fish really stands out with her amazing powerful little girl voice. If only for that, this album is really worth a serious listen.  ●

Live videos... are better than long speeches

■ Interview, 2019 : https://youtu.be/lxApvTjPgdU

► Special Samantha Fish full shows

■ Blues from the Top, Winter Park, CO, 2010 : https://youtu.be/oPa9kxHRwuQ

■ Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City, MO, 2012 : https://youtu.be/uEaCwo-Xm8Y

■ PBS Special, 2014 : https://youtu.be/TJ6M9pWWwXU

■ The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton, FL :

→ 2014 : https://youtu.be/gPtjVm_-Fco

→ 2015 : https://youtu.be/wWwA9bZ-9Pc

→ 2017 : https://youtu.be/XkjDwcUqq_w

→ 2019 : https://youtu.be/7IdDkp4jFQo

■ Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, 2015 : https://youtu.be/jfXT2_C_Y7g

■ Callahan's, Auburn Hills, MI :

→ 2014 : https://youtu.be/4JRmAJTzu_w

→ 2015 : https://youtu.be/JLbZgbIxJkE

■ Boulton Center, Bay Shore, NY, 2016 : https://youtu.be/OsJrZhuYcD8

■ Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, Telluride, CO, 2016 : https://youtu.be/kf_2RrinEZE

■ Roy's Hall, Blairstown, NJ, 2016 : https://youtu.be/ZapbjWQig2c

■ Hidden River Blues Festival, Philadelphia, PA , 2016 : https://youtu.be/A7fIhYJeUVg

■ Bonita Blues Festival, Bonita Springs, FL, 2017 : https://youtu.be/B4ceEGg-4ow

■ Tampa Bay Blues Festival, St. Petersburg, FL :

→ 2017 : https://youtu.be/uRTGo1DzIqc

→ 2022 : https://youtu.be/Jxw_bMj6sAI

■ Terra Fermata, Stuart, FL, 2017 : https://youtu.be/Tple_uVtjW0

■ Le Camionneur, Strasbourg, France, 2017 : https://youtu.be/GapggMUs83I

■ Key West, FL, 2017 : https://youtu.be/TK7w63Ewk8U

■ Dortmund, Germany, 2017 : https://youtu.be/8pFpIFJ_hvs

■ Ponte Vedra, FL, 2017 : https://youtu.be/h6muqhjZT9Y

■ Big Bull Falls Blues Festival, Wausau, WI, 2017 : https://youtu.be/Mh9UFOpXj5M

■ Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, FL, 2017 : https://youtu.be/7RhJ1NFPC60

■ Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, 2017 : https://youtu.be/D_5Bj17rvZE

■ Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, New Orleans :

→ 2017 : https://youtu.be/cWEdkLnyQBM

→ 2018 : https://youtu.be/KVzjbWEEd0w

■ Blues On The Fox, Aurora, IL, 2018 : https://youtu.be/iYUY_BYZIbM

■ Acoustic Set, California Worldfest, Grass Valley, 2018 : https://youtu.be/5B7-ISawsOQ

■ The Big Blues Bender, Las Vegas, NV, 2018 : https://youtu.be/30sv5L7iX8A

■ Lancaster Roots & Blues Festival, Lancaster, PA, 2018 : https://youtu.be/nWR6b9ILD6A

■ The Old Rock House, St. Louis, MO, 2018 : https://youtu.be/ko5KfkBVGoY

■ Crossroads KC, Kansas City, MO, 2018 : https://youtu.be/-8ndJHLSa-w

■ Daryl's House Club, Pawling, NY , 2018 : https://youtu.be/nrr5rk0Qmpk

■ Riverwalk By Night, Stuart, FL, 2018 : https://youtu.be/EMqbkp51KW4

■ Levitate Music & Arts Festival, Marshfield, MA, 2018 : https://youtu.be/iWvIM4bhgBk

■ World Cafe, Philadelphia, PA :

→ 2018 : https://youtu.be/pX9wsKRKQoA

→ 2019 : https://youtu.be/ZlET66VuyBA

■ The Token Lounge, Westland, MI :

→ 2018 : https://youtu.be/Cwoc8_Q1eso

→ 2022 : https://youtu.be/D79hL2JAdnk

■ Natalie's, Worthington, OH, 2019 : https://youtu.be/PK0GRBp7rDc

■ The Garage, Islington, UK, 2019 : https://youtu.be/5mdCUuo4F7M

■ Suwannee Roots Revival, Live Oak, FL, 2019 : https://youtu.be/bJ2rgJR0G68

■ Chenango Bluesfest, Norwich, NY, 2018 : https://youtu.be/bHetOkvJqLI

■ La Cigale, Paris, France, 2020 : https://youtu.be/dpZ7aUoZuPE

■ International Guitar Festival, Dallas, TX, 2021 : https://youtu.be/Jwt0FivlxM4

■ The Fillmore, New Orleans, 2022 : https://youtu.be/Fi2Nw03Mx8Q

■ Salvage Station, Asheville, NC, 2022 : https://youtu.be/439LQ1Jwa0I

■ XPoNential Music Festival, Camden Waterfront, NJ, 2022 : https://youtu.be/AtpUAdKtpBw

■ High Sierra Music Festival, Quincy, CA, 2022 : https://youtu.be/HgixMysI1Eg