When: 7.30pm on Thursday 24 October 2013
Where: Takk Coffee House, 6 Tariff Street, Manchester, M1 2FF

We’re delighted to be working with Sam Amidon for the first time.

While in his early 20s, Sam Amidon moved to New York City to pursue a growing passion for free jazz, which had begun to capture his imagination as a teenager (he will expound enthusiastically, at some length, on the myriad connections between free jazz improvisation and old-time fiddle playing). He studied with violinist Leroy Jenkins and played with various after-hours combos but earned money fiddling at Irish pub sessions. Deciding to teach himself to play guitar so he could get hired for studio session work and maybe figure out how to write his own songs, Amidon found himself drawn back to the folk music of his youth: ‘I wrote some guitar riffs and I started learning folk songs as a way of learning guitar, and then I started changing them around,’ he smiles. ‘And I just got stuck at that stage.’

Amidon began to incorporate storytelling and elements of movement, particularly a kind of intense ‘liturgical’ dancing, into his shows. He has appeared at experimental venues like Chelsea’s The Kitchen, collaborated on performances pieces with musical polymath Nico Muhly, and toured as part of Thomas Bartlett’s group Doveman. Most recently, he embarked on a series of live shows with the similar-minded guitarist Bill Frisell.

‘I moved to New York to get away from folk music and to start playing the music that I was listening to. To try improvising, to play in rock bands, whatever… and now what I do largely is these folk tunes. I guess, partly, that singing these songs was just comforting. You’re new to New York, you’re singing these lonesome tunes, it feels good. But, at the same time, you have to pay attention to what people respond to. You have to find what’s meaningful to you, and you find out what that is by being with friends. I found that this is what I could bring to the table, to other musicians, to Nico, to Thomas, to Bill Frisell, all these collaborations. The element I can bring that is meaningful for a musical dialogue has been folk songs.’

Support comes from Manchester’s own Olympian.

Takk is an excellent new Icelandic-inspired coffee house on the edge of the Northern Quarter. Complimentary tea and coffee is included within the ticket price, with other refreshments available to purchase.

Buy tickets now with no booking fee. Tickets are available from Common (no booking fee), Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, Seetickets.com, WeGotTickets.com,Ticketabc.com, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

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