In May 2020, Sam Carter released his fourth album, ‘Home Waters‘, a Featured Album of the Month on Folk Radio, described by Glenn Kimpton as his “finest and most confident piece of work so far”.
This autumn, Sam’s UK tour will give the songs of Home Waters their first live outing since the release. The specially-assembled Home Waters String Quartet will join Sam on tour at Hexham on 16th October and for Home Waters In Concert, which premieres online on 24th September. Captured with a professional multi-camera setup in studio-quality audio, this concert film is not to be missed. The accompanying audio from Home Waters In Concert will be released as Home Waters Live on CD and DL on 24th September. It will be available exclusively on Bandcamp and from Sam directly during the Home Waters tour. The album features a brand new version of the traditional English song Just As The Tide Was Flowing, as well as all the songs of Home Waters, alongside selected songs from Sam’s back catalogue.
Below, you can watch a preview of that online concert with Sam performing Hold Back the Storm alongside the String Quartet. Sam tells us:
Hold Back The Storm was one of the last songs I wrote for Home Waters. It’s something of a rallying cry, and a tip of the hat to those fighting against climate change apathy and inaction. The song features what might be my favourite of Ian Stephenson’s string arrangements; it’s especially swooping and cinematic. When I first heard the quartet play it, I was blown away. Making this film felt incredible; it was the first time I’d played a gig with other musicians since before the pandemic, an occasion that brought a fresh intensity to the performances.
Buy tickets for the online concert & pre-order the album now at https://samcarter.bandcamp.com/
For live tour dates and tickets, visit https://samcartermusic.co.uk/gigs/
Midlands-born guitarist and songwriter Sam Carter has earned a reputation for vivid, narrative-driven songwriting and captivating live performances. He is a highly-regarded instrumentalist, renowned by many as ‘the finest English-style fingerpicking guitarist of his generation’ (Jon Boden). Over the past fifteen years, Sam has toured the world, won a BBC Folk Award and made appearances on national TV, including a spellbinding performance on Later… with Jools Holland. Sam has recorded and performed with some of folk’s leading lights, including Richard Thompson, Eliza Carthy, Martin Simpson and Nancy Kerr.
When Sam Carter envisioned his fourth album Home Waters as ‘a search for a sense of belonging and stability in unfamiliar territory’, he couldn’t have known how prescient that would turn out to be. Recorded pre-pandemic in a converted church in rural Northumberland by producer and multi-instrumentalist Ian Stephenson (Kan, Baltic Crossing, Andy May Trio), Sam’s live acoustic guitar and vocals sit at the heart of the album. Many of his performances were left unadorned, while Stephenson’s cinematic string arrangements created the rich emotional landscapes on other tracks. Released during lockdown in May 2020, Home Waters brought solace to many and was heralded as “an album full of quiet pleasures by a musician at the top of his game” (R2 Magazine) and his “finest and most confident piece of work so far” (Folk Radio UK).
HOME WATERS TOUR • AUTUMN 2021
Feat. Home Waters String Quartet
Friday 24th September – Home Waters In Concert [Online] • samcarter.bandcamp.com
Saturday 16th October – Queen’s Hall, Hexham • queenshall.co.uk • 01434 652477
Feat. How The City Sings Trio*
Wednesday 13th October – Kings Place, London • kingsplace.co.uk • 02075 201490
Solo
Saturday 18th September – Bournemouth Folk Club • bournemouthfolkclub.com
Sunday 19th September – The Musician, Leicester • themusicianpub.co.uk • 01162 510080
Tuesday 28th September – Junction, Cambridge • junction.co.uk • 01223 511511
Wednesday 29th September – Chapel Arts Centre, Bath • chapelarts.org • 01225 463362
Thursday 30th September – The Stables, Milton Keynes • stables.org • 01908 280800
Wednesday 6th October – The Phoenix, Exeter • exeterphoenix.org.uk • 01392 667080
Friday 8th October – Falcon Hotel, Bromyard • folkatthefalcon.com • 07779 694615
Friday 15th October – Downend Folk Club, Bristol • downendfolkclub.co.uk • 07837 881941
Sunday 17th October – Shakespeare’s, Sheffield • shakespeares-sheffield.co.uk • 07837 881941
Thursday 21st October – Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham •kitchengardencafe.co.uk • 01214 434725
Friday 22nd October – Manchester Folk Festival • manchesterfolkfestival.org.uk
Saturday 23rd October – The David Hall, South Petherton • thedavidhall.com • 01460 240340
*For the London leg of the tour, in addition to showcasing the songs of Home Waters, Sam will revisit his third studio album, How The City Sings, as part of the London Unwrapped season at Kings Place. Sam will be joined by Matt Ridley on double bass and Evan Jenkins on drums.
Tickets: https://samcartermusic.co.uk/gigs/
HOME WATERS – Out now on Captain Records. Released 1st May 2020.
HOME WATERS LIVE – Released 24th September 2021 on Captain Records