A month after the release of Fatal Flower Garden we catch up with Vermont-born, London-based folk singer, Sam Amidon to discuss his recent project inspired by the Anthology of American Folk Music. Sharing similar melodies and lyrics to that of the Anthology – though featuring wonderfully reimagined arrangements – the four-track EP signals a strong departure from the recording process employed on 2017’s The Following Mountain, as Sam explains:
“The Following Mountain is entirely original music and it grew out of improvisation and experimentation and slowly growing something from nothing. Whereas for the EP we were working from the songs of the Anthology, so it was more of an intuitive and quicker process, and lots of fun to get into the studio with Leo Abrahams and Shahzad Ismaily”
If Amidon saw his previous record as “a personal mythology of sounds and visions and characters; a walk through the thickets of the imagination”, then the Fatal Flower Garden is a visionary trip through the sprawling backcountry of early 20th Century America, first envisioned through the prism of bohemian Harry Smith, revisited here for a modern audience. What follows is our Q&A that touches on Sacred Harp singing, Thomas Bartlett, Arthur Russell and basketball award ceremonies.
I recently heard an interview where you were discussing your upbringing, and how growing up in New England in the 70s, folk music was simply a part of everyday life for you. From contra dancing to shape note singing, to the tune sessions you attended; it was less about coffee houses per se and more about community music-making.
You mentioned you felt each generation seems to have its own folk revival – I was wondering where you see us moving in 2020?
Yes, this is true. And also, importantly, it was never about folk music as something vintage or old or antiquated. The point was not that anything needed to be preserved or revived; but simply that these were great social activities, great melodies and songs and stories, good to engage with on a regular basis for their own sake.
It does seem to be the case, for America at least that each generation has had their own version of folk ‘revival’ – from the 60s, Dylan-led guitar strumming version, to the 70s & 80s more communal music-making and folk dancing and fiddle tunes that I grew up in; to the “old weird America” freak folk etc of the early 2000s.
I have no idea how it would be characterised now, but it definitely seems like traditional music is alive and well in all its varied forms! I think the distinction between more ‘modern’ versions of folk music versus ‘traditional’ forms has dissolved compared to previous eras.
I see you’ve incorporated elements of sacred harp singing into your live shows. I caught London Sacred Harp open for Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy two years ago. It was interesting seeing the range of people who had taken to it, who might not have actually grown up in the tradition. I was wondering what you thought about its appeal, spread and whether it might’ve influenced you at all?
Yes, the melodies and sounds of shape note music are one of the most fundamental elements of my childhood and teenage years (in my case primarily through the Village Harmony and Northern Harmony camps and choirs). It is just deep, deep music and a profound experience to be part of, for people of any level of musical ability.
It has always moved around and shifted in meaning and form – starting as a kind of subversive alternative to dull church music, sung by young people in Puritan New England in the late 1700s; migrating south to Alabama and Georgia and becoming part of the intense Baptist religious tradition there starting in the mid-1800s; being rediscovered by folkies in New England in the 1970s, and now spreading to Europe and beyond… It’s a deep communal practice and anybody who has not gone to a singing should check it out!
I caught your recent Manchester show at Gulliver’s and I enjoyed how your music finds such common ground between free jazz, Appalachian field recordings and Arthur Russell. It felt like there was so much room for experimentation/improvisation throughout the performance.
In Jen Pelly’s recent review of Russell’s Iowa Dream she wrote, “he foresaw the contemporary notion that we need not subscribe to the tyrannies of genre” – I was wondering how you feel about that statement and how you feel it might apply to your music?
Arthur Russell is such a deep musician, everything he touches or sings has a beautiful feeling. I also have to shout-out to Peter Broderick who did a beautiful job of putting the Iowa Dream collection together. I think the whole thing of trying to escape the constraints genre is much more an issue of the previous decades, so that quote does not have much importance for me or even how I hear Russell’s music. But it is definitely inspiring how he pursued so many different kinds of sounds and styles, and how graceful and playful he sounded in each one.
How’s the King Speechy project coming along? Can we expect a wider release anytime soon?
King Speechy: Audio Materials Relating To My Novel-In-Progress was released earlier this year in a limited edition of 100 LPs, no digital release. They are sold out on my website but I do have a few copies left for the adventurous visitor to my merch table, for the low price of £100 each! Suffice it to say that it is an adventure of the mind that no introspective traveller will soon forget.
You go way back with one of Folk Radio’s favourite artists: Thomas Bartlett. I was curious having recorded and collaborated together since your early teens, is there any project that stands out for you as a favourite memory? Whether it’s from touring with Popcorn Behaviour or Doveman, working on your first record together or gigging alongside him again earlier this year?
Yes! My best friend since age 6 and deep musical collaborator ever since that time. I could think of a million adventures, gigs, recording sessions, shared musical discoveries, CD buying/listening, one-on-one basketball games, and on and on. In terms of our earlier years, I’m still proud of an album we made as teenagers with our folk band Popcorn Behavior / Assembly, called the ‘January EP,’ which is a bit of a proto-Gloaming vibe.
Congratulations on the release of Fatal Flower Garden: A Tribute To Harry Smith. When did you first discover the collection and what drew you to the songs and Smith’s story?
Of course, I knew of the Anthology as a kid, but it wasn’t until a bit later that I learned more about the man himself and all his mysteries and eccentricity and deadpan genius, through stories I heard from friends who had met him, and seeing his incredible animated films, and reading John Fahey’s liner notes to the Volume 4 of the Anthology which was released in the early 2000s.
The idea for this EP came from concerts that were commissioned by Kurt Overbergh of the venue Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, who are doing a multi-year series of concerts in tribute to the Anthology. At first, I was unsure whether to say yes because it felt like the Anthology is already so well-known and it has been one of my goals to sing and find songs from a bit further off the beaten path. But when I went back to listen through the Anthology, I realised there was so much in it that I didn’t know and that even the classic songs in there still had room for reinterpretation… there’s just so much wonderful stuff in there that even though it is so well-known, it is still a revelation to listen through. And the spirit of Harry Smith himself guided me through it all.
With its corrupted roots tracing back to the Child ballad Sir Hugh, or The Jew’s Daughter, the song Fatal Flower Garden itself feels very ambiguous and sinister. What drew you to Nelstone’s Hawaiians rendition and why did you choose it as the EP title?
I think that putting the words of these old songs into a different musical context or atmosphere is like putting it into a different light under which it can be viewed anew, but still preserving the mystery of the song and not trying to over-explain it all – allow the song to be there in its complexity. The song Fatal Flower Garden as performed by Nelstone’s Hawaiians is certainly ambiguous and sinister, but also filled with odd and often beautiful imagery.
For the title of the EP, I liked ’Fatal Flower Garden’ because it is mysterious but also a bit comical… one doesn’t generally think of a flower garden as a threatening place! But also, because I often think of an album as being like a garden, and the musician as a kind of gardener.
Lastly, at the Manchester gig you joked you had finally been recognised for your basketball talents by your Stoke-Newington team – did you walk away with the ‘it looks weird, but it’s on purpose’ award or was that just a nomination?
The awards have not been announced yet!
Read our review of Fatal Flower Garden
Order Fatal Flower Garden via Bandcamp