Samantha Fish

Versatile roots rock guitarist Samantha Fish drew notice from music industry figures while still a teenager, then claimed her first number one album on the blues chart before exiting her mid-twenties. Her sound remained grounded in blues on early releases including 2013's Black Wind Howlin' and the Luther Dickinson-produced Wild at Heart (2015). As visibility increased, her output grew more wide-ranging, revealing her affinity for R&B, rock & roll, rockabilly, and funk along with her intense vocal delivery. The 2021 album Faster enlisted players from the Vandals and the Last Bandoleros, while Death Wish Blues (2023) resulted from a partnership with rockabilly rebel Jesse Dayton.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Fish entered a household that embraced multiple styles and regularly featured classic rock radio. Her father played guitar and sometimes hosted informal sessions with friends at the family home. She began on drums before switching to guitar at age 15. As a teenager she slipped into the local blues landmark Knuckleheads Saloon to catch touring acts and later sat in with them once she turned 18.

In 2009 she issued the live album Live Bait as the Samantha Fish Blues Band, its rock-leaning guitar work attracting Ruf Records. The label placed her with Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde on the 2011 set Girls with Guitars, which mixed covers of Rolling Stones and Steve Miller Band songs with original material from the three guitarist/singer/songwriters. Later that year she delivered her solo debut Runaway, also on Ruf Records and produced by mentor and early collaborator Mike Zito.

Her first chart entry came with the follow-up Black Wind Howlin', again produced by Zito; it appeared on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and reached the Top Ten of the blues albums chart after its 2013 release. She next released Wild at Heart in 2015, which topped the blues chart and was produced by Luther Dickinson of the Black Crowes and the North Mississippi Allstars. Her fourth studio album, 2017's Chills & Fever, was tracked in Detroit with members of the Detroit Cobras and spotlighted covers of lesser-known pop and soul material.

Also in 2017 she released Belle of the West. Recorded in Missouri with Luther Dickinson, the project included contributions from guitarist/harmonica player Lightnin' Malcolm, former Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, violinist Lillie Mae Rische, and others. This second blues-chart number one helped Fish secure a 2018 Blues Music Association award for Contemporary Female Artist of the Year. Her sixth studio album, 2019's Kill or Be Kind, marked her Rounder Records debut and was recorded in Memphis with producer Scott Billington; it returned her to the top of the Billboard Blues Albums chart and also led the Heatseekers ranking.

Fish joined a host of noted guests on Dion's 2020 album Blues with Friends, dueting with the blues and doo wop veteran on "What If I Told You." She next collaborated with producer Martin Kierszenbaum, aka Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, on the 2021 solo release Faster, also issued by Rounder. The studio band included drummer Josh Freese, who had worked with the Vandals, the Replacements, and A Perfect Circle, along with bassist Diego Navaira of the Last Bandoleros. She teamed with shape-shifting guitarist Jesse Dayton, whose style fuses rockabilly, outlaw country, and roots rock, for 2023's Death Wish Blues. Punk-blues firebrand Jon Spencer produced the sessions, backed by Kendall Wind on bass, Mickey Finn on keys, and Aaron Johnston on drums. The album peaked at number 14 on the Heatseekers chart.