Samantha Fish Black Wind Howlin' (LP, 180g Vinyl & Download-Card)

Take heed: there's a storm coming. With this lyrical thunderstorm, lightning-like guitar playing and shattering grooves, Black Wind Howlin' is an album that will blow your roof off - and Samantha Fish is at the center of this hurricane. Released as a CD in September 2013 through Ruf Records, Black Wind Howlin' breaks the cliché of the problematic second album with twelve tracks that clearly show Samantha's evolution as a composer, lyricist and, not least, guitarist. 

While many other artists work by template or allow themselves to be pigeonholed, Sam shows her different facets on Black Wind Howlin': From heavy rock, such as on the tour bus snapshot Miles To Go ("Twelve hours to Reno/ten hours til the next show") to the imposing Sucker Born ("Vegas left me weary, LA bled me dry/skating on fumes as I crossed the Nevada line...") to the vicious Go To Hell ("Oh, this ain't gonna cast a spell/So you can go to hell! "). 

And yet elsewhere, aided by the agile production of Royal Southern Brotherhood member and her longtime colleague Mike Zito, you can hear Samantha striking different notes with her slide guitar, such as on the ballad Over You ("Echoing words, said I'd never make it on my own...") and the redemptive country-tinged song Last September ("Don't remember the curves of my face/Can't feel the warmth in my embrace/Well I'm here to remind you..."). Aside from the cover of Howlin' Wolf's Who's Been Talkin' and the co-written Go To Hell with Zito, all other songs are penned solely by Sam - a mix that will capture fans' attention. "I wanted this record to have a modern, rock sound," she says of the album's light-hearted vibe. 

"I also wanted it to combine elements of Americana, country and roots." She found support from the Royal Southern Brotherhood's rhythm section, Yonric Scott (drums) and Charlie Wooton (bass), Mike Zito (back-up guitar and vocals), Johnny Sansone (harmonica), Bo Thomas (fiddle on Last September), and Paul Thorn (vocals on Go To Hell). So here it is. Harder, darker, bolder and better even than its predecessor. This is the sound of an artist on the cusp of something great.