Sam Amidon Going for Adds

Lily-O, Sam Amidon‘s new album, was just released on Nonesuch featuring reimagined folk songs; incorporating elements of other folk songs into tracks of an improvised and spontaneous nature. The album also features prolific artist Bill Frisell, who will be touring with Amidon on select dates.

Lily-O was produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson (Björk, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Feist) and recorded in Reykjavik, Iceland. This isn’t the first time Amidon works with Sigurðsson. In 2008, he recorded his sophomore album All Is Well and released it on his own Bedroom Community label. The album included arrangements by Nico Muhly (Grizzly Bear, The National, Antony & the Johnsons) & Ben Frost on bass.

On his new album, the central element is Amidon’s voice, which, in his deceptively understated manner, tells tales of adventure, love, violence and redemption. He mines obscure & traditional folk songs, along with contemporary songs, and pieces together his lyric sheet, in what he calls a “collage process”. The result is a more deliberate and expansive sound. Esquire named it Album of the Week and called it “magical”, and MusicOMH gave it four-and-a-half stars.

10/13 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA*
10/14 – Largo at the Coronet – Los Angeles, CA
10/16 – The Barns at Wolf Trap – Vienna, VA*
10/17 – Fringe Arts – Philadelphia, PA*
10/18 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY*
10/20 – The Parlor Room – Northampton, MA
* with Bill Frisell

RIYL: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Neutral Milk Hotel, Iron & Wine, Nick Drake

Recommended tracks: Track #1 “Walkin’ Boss”, track #6 “Groundhog Variations”, track #3 “Blue Mountains”

Going for Adds 10/13 & 10/14

FCC CLEAN

Label: Nonesuch