Sam Amidon Plays Big Ears Festival Followed By US and Canadian Tour Dates

The Following Mountain, Sam Amidon's sixth album overall and his third for Nonesuch Records, is his first album of original songs. A deeply personal synthesis of folk-based song form and experimental improvisation, it "feels like a liberation" (Uncut) and "provides constant, jolting surprises" (The Guardian). But in his decade-long career as a recording and touring musician, the singer and multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, fiddle) has always managed to create work that's utterly original, even when, as on previous discs, he was digging through the sounds and stories of traditional American music. The Following Mountain features appearances by musicians such as Shahzad Ismaily, master percussionists Milford Graves and Juma Sultan, and psychedelic jazz musician Sam Gendel, who will be opening the US dates of this tour as well as joining Amidon onstage for his set.

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 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, guitaristBill 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 Amidon's wife, the singer-songwriterBeth Orton.

For the US dates of this tour, Amidon will be joined by psych-jazz musician and songwriterSam Gendel, who is touring in support of his debut solo album 4444 after performing as a sideman with Moses Sumney and Knower. Gendel will open the shows with his own music and then join as an instrumentalist in Amidon's set as well, having played a crucial role as a contributor to The Following Mountain on alto saxophone.

TOUR DATES:

March 23-24: Big Ears Festival - Knoxville, TN

March 25: The Burl - Lexington, KY

March 27: Bourbon & Branch - Philadelphia, PA

March 28: Le Poisson Rouge - New York City (with Alexander Turnquist & Sam Gendel)

March 29: Stone Church - Brattleboro, VT (with Sam Gendel)

March 30: Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

March 31: O Patro Vys - Montreal, Quebec

April 1: The Rivoli - Toronto, ONT

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