FRoots Critics Poll winner and Mercury Music Prize and BBC Folk Awards nominee Sam Lee brings his acclaimed reinvention of ancient folksong brilliantly updated for modern ears to Band on the Wall.
“Sam Lee is one of Britain’s finest singers and the most cogent force of his generation in British folk music” The Guardian
Winner of Froots Critics Poll Album of the Year 2012
Mercury Music Prize Nominee 2012
No.4 in Folk Album of The Year 2012, The Guardian
Sam Lee is fast becoming recognised as a new pioneer in folk, defining the sound, sight and texture of a contemporary folksong instilled with ancient roots. Possessing a wonderfully expressive baritone voice that harks back to both Richard Thompson and Martin Cathy, Sam Lee visits Band on the Wall performing from his Mercury Music Award nominated debut album Ground Of Its Own which takes ancient and traditional folk songs and reworks, reinterprets and reinvents for the 21st century to stunning effect. This year Sam has been nominated for 3 BBC Folk awards including Folk Singer of the Year and Best Album.
“Sam Lee … the latest folk singer to try to revitalise ancient songs by tackling them with an intense, modern attitude. His album Ground of Its Own is mesmerising and compelling and certainly deserving of close attention. He might even be an outside bet for the first folk singer to actually win the Mercury Prize…”
Neil McCormick, The Daily Telegraph
Sam’s musical training came via a unique 4 year apprenticeship under the legendary, late Scottish traveller Stanley Robertson – last of the great ballad singers. Sam became the musical ‘next of kin’ to Stanley’s vast repertoire of songs and an ancient, idiosyncratic Traveller singing craft. With his live band, Sam Lee and Friends, he has carved a new acoustic with their homemade and mongrelised instrumentation using unconventional and contemporary arrangements that challenging preconceptions of what ‘traditional folk’ should sound like.
“Sam Lee is a shining and original talent on the British folk scene.”
Evening Standard, 5/5
“Lee’s voice, oddly blithe and light for a baritone, captures the mythic charm of these songs”
The Independent
“Sam’s baritone voice is a complete and utter joy to listen to.”
Bright Young Folk
“Live or on record, Sam Lee and his band present rich tapestries of ancient songs in an innovative and dynamic fashion.”
Folking
This unreserved seating plus limited standing concert will begin at 7.30pm but our Picturehouse Cafe Bar is open from 5.30pm for delicious food and drinks.
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