Sam Amidon
August 10, 2018
August 10, 2018
American Folk music runs through the veins of Sam Amidon. The celebrated young composer and singer’s “highly personal approach opens a window on the American past and lets us feel it like nothing else around” (NPR). Following the 2017 release of his sixth album, The Following Mountain, Amidon takes the Spiegeltent stage for the first time with an intimate solo evening of original Americana music.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sam Amidon: spokesman for the new, weird America.” —New York Observer
Amidon is a singer and multi-instrumentalist originally hailing from Brattleboro, Vermont. "Part preservationist, part visionary" (Boston Globe) His most recent album, The Following Mountain, a deeply personal album intertwining folk music-based song form and experimental improvisation, was released in May of 2017 by Nonesuch Records. Prior to The Following Mountain, Amidon released five solo albums on the Bedroom Community and Nonesuch labels. Amidon's material for these albums consists primarily of adventurous reworkings of traditional American ballads, hymns and work songs, with the New York Times writing that Amidon "transforms all of the songs, changing their colors and loading them with trapdoors." The albums have been deeply collaborative in nature, inviting contributions from musicians such as composer Nico Muhly, guitarist Bill Frisell, and improviser Shahzad Ismaily among others. Amidon has also recorded or performed as a guest artists with musicians such as pianist Jason Moran, indie rock band Bon Iver, violinist Pekka Kuusisto, and singer songwriter Glen Hansard. Amidon has also appeared as a soloist performing his songswith orchestras such as the Britten Sinfonia, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra among others.