Thanks to my good buddy Nick I got to meet and record Serious Sam Barrett on his short trip through the States (Sam hails from Leeds, UK) while he was on holiday for SXSW. I ended up recording Sam twice and will post the other session here later.
One thing I must mention first and foremost is HOLY CHRIST I can’t believe the tone his guitar gets. It’s a 12 string Stella, the same kind of guitar reportedly used by Barbecue Bob, Son House, Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Furry Lewis, Leadbelly, Charlie Patton…and I’m gonna stop there. Anyhow, listen to the recording and you’ll hear it. When Sam bought that guitar from a pawn shop in Tennessee on a previous trip to the States (for a few notes less than a King’s ransom, I might add)… he found a treasure, let’s leave it at that.
Beyond the guitar, though, you’ll find in him an excellent songwriter and a rather memorable singer. Sam sings some of his originals, some songs a friend wrote for him, and some old folk songs he grew up with. Enjoy this set he recorded for us. It was so good that I invited him back for another to be recorded two days later. Since he had to fly across the pond to get to us I had to take every opportunity I could get – it may be awhile before he makes it back here.
I hope he enjoyed a successful SXSW. I sure am glad he came over to record some tunes. Here’s a link to the first session. Again, I’ll upload the 2nd session to this post as soon as I can. I have a ton of recording to do this week so it may be a bit before I can get there… but stay tuned, not only for Sam but for plenty more great sessions I’ll post here. For now, though, this is a great one to get you by ’til the next update. Sam, thanks for coming. You’re welcome back anytime.
Follow the link below to download his live set for free, or follow the link and click “play” to stream it for free. Just listen to it, you’ll be happy you did.
http://www.kaosradioaustin.org/node/27187
