Samantha Fish Captures the Magic of the Stage on Paper Doll Live
Samantha Fish has never been an artist built for half-measures. Onstage, the GRAMMY-nominated guitarist, singer and songwriter turns blues, rock and roots music into something volatile and alive. Now, that fire has been bottled on Paper Doll Live, her first official live album.
Out now on vinyl, CD and digital formats, Paper Doll Live arrives alongside the new single “Rusty Razor Live,” which is also accompanied by a live performance video.
A Live Album With Teeth
Recorded at Knoxville’s historic Bijou Theatre, Paper Doll Live captures Fish and her band in full flight, tearing through a set that thrives on grit, muscle and instinct. The record features soaring harmonies from Nashville gospel legends The McCrary Sisters, adding extra weight and soul to a performance already charged with electricity.
Fish’s reputation has long been forged under stage lights. Critics have praised her as a triple-threat performer, pointing to her punchy songwriting, impassioned vocals and searing guitar work. Paper Doll Live makes good on that reputation, offering a document of an artist at her most direct and unguarded.
“There’s a fire that comes across in live performance that doesn’t always translate in studio albums,” Fish says. “The stage lays all of that bare.”
Blues, Roots and Raw Power
Emerging from Kansas City’s rich blues lineage, Fish has built a career on restless evolution. Her influences stretch from Prince and Leonard Cohen to Mississippi Hill Country blues, but her sound is distinctly her own: tough, melodic, soulful and often explosive.
From early days cold-calling bars as a teenager to sharing stages with Slash and The Rolling Stones, and appearing at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, Fish has developed into one of contemporary roots music’s most compelling live acts.
Her catalogue includes Runaway, Black Wind Howlin’, Wild Heart, Chills & Fever, Kill or Be Kind, Faster, the Jesse Dayton collaboration Death Wish Blues, and Paper Doll. With Paper Doll Live, she pushes that story forward by capturing the sweat, sparks and spontaneity of the stage.
“If Paper Doll was a declaration of artistic power,” Fish says, “Paper Doll Live is the sound of that power unleashed.”
ORDER VINYL, CD & DIGITAL HERE
Samantha Fish Tour Dates
Tickets are available from samanthafish.com.
- 6.19 – Grolloo, Netherlands – Holland Intl Blues Festival
- 6.20 – Dortmund, Germany – Musiktheater Piano
- 6.21 – Chiari, Italy – Istituto Salesiaino “San Bernadino”
- 6.23 – Loceri, Italy – Parco Urbano
- 6.25 – Rubigen, Switzerland – Muhle Hunziken
- 6.27 – Vienne, France – Jazz a Vienne
- 6.28 – Erlangen, Germany – E-Werk Kino
- 6.30 – Mannheim, Germany – 7er-Club
- 7.01 – Aschaffenburg, Germany – Colos-Saal
- 7.02 – Hamburg, Germany – Fabrik
- 7.04 – Helsinki – Puisto Blues
- 7.23 – Rochester, New York – Martin Luther Jr Memorial Park at Manhattan Square
- 8.14 – Lincoln, CA – Thunder Valley Casino Resort
- 9.11 – New Braunfels, TX – Brauntex Performing Arts Theater
- 9.12 – Dallas, TX – The Kessler Theater
- 9.13 – Houston, TX – The Heights Theater
- 9.16 – Colorado Springs, CO – Phil Long Music Hall
- 9.18 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
- 9.20 – Telluride, CO – Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
- 9.23 – Monterey, CA – Golden State Theater
- 9.24 – Napa, CA – Uptown Theater Napa
- 9.25 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theater
- 9.26 – Grass Valley, CA – The Center For the Arts
- 9.27 – Menlo Park, CA – The Guild Theater
- 9.29 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
- 10.3 – Everett, WA – Kings Hall Everett
- 10.4 – Sandpoint, ID – Panida Theater Inc
- 10.31 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go***
***With Jesse Dayton and Indio Downey
