Back in March, Sam Sweeney released his latest album Unearth Repeat. Despite the well-deserved critical acclaim and attention given to his debut solo album The Unfinished Violin, one of the best folk albums of 2018, Unearth Repeat rose to and surpassed that difficult second album challenge.
For his follow-up he did something completely different…
Dave Swarbrick’s violin, which Sam uses on this record, is, to my mind, particularly fascinating as a metaphor for this album. When Sam picked up Swarbrick’s fiddle, he was struck by the depth and layers of sound it contained, compared to his own beloved First World War instrument (which he recorded The Unfinished Violin with), and also by the sheer volume of the thing, and that neatly sums up Unearth Repeat when compared alongside The Unfinished Violin. Sam’s debut is a beautiful album, but for his second he wanted to turn it on its head and do something completely different, at least within the realms of his own musical style and sound.
Glenn Kimpton, Folk Radio UK Album Review
As he said himself in a Folk Radio UK interview, “I don’t think this is what people will expect from me.” It wasn’t…Unearth Repeat not only showcased one of the UK’s best fiddle players, but it also demonstrated Sweeny’s incredible musical vision and creative passion – it was both a mesmerising and irresistible album.
With all of the above in mind, it was a great shame that Sam and his band were not able to tour the album as planned – delaying their tour from May 2020 to May 2021…it was one of the most highly anticipated album tours of the British folk music calendar but thanks to modern technology, we will get an early flavour of what’s to come.
You can join Sam Sweeney and his band on Thursday, 27 August 2020 from 19:30-22:00 to watch them play Unearth Repeat, recorded live in Cecil Sharp House. The concert will stream on Sam’s Facebook and Youtube pages (Facebook Event link here).
Alongside Sam Sweeney, his band includes the acoustic and electric guitars of Jack Rutter and Louis Campbell and the double bass of Ben Nicholls.
There will be a 20 minute support slot from some brilliant young string players, then Sam and his band will play the whole of Unearth Repeat for the first time since they recorded it back in September 2019!
All donations will be split between the band, production crew and the support acts, so please do give something if you can. https://www.paypal.me/samsweeney123
Sam is also making a series of videos for people who want to support him on Patreon. Including some exclusive insights into the new album, and for the fiddle players, some tuition videos! More here: https://www.patreon.com/samsweeney
https://www.samsweeneymusic.com/
Photo Credit: Camilla Greenwell