Scottish-born singer songwriter Sam Grassie has had a rocky journey in recent years, with a car accident resulting in serious injury and a debilitating ME diagnosis, as well as familial tragedy. All of this hindered but did not halt a promising musical career that was ignited when Sam was a child, secretly listening in on his family’s living room sessions.
Sam’s recovery saw him relocate to London in 2022 and immerse himself in the folk scene there, as well as sharing bills and stages with a wide range of musicians, from Ryley Walker, with whom he toured the UK, to Martin Carthy, Gwenifer Raymond and Robert Plant. This led to a series of EP releases, before Sam eventually put together Where Two Hawks Fly, his debut album, consisting of eleven traditional songs and one original, the lovely, lightly sung Lighthouse Keeper (Sam considers his vocal quality fairly mediocre, an opinion proven incorrect throughout this set).
However! What is apparent when listening to this excellent, modestly appointed debut album is a high level of guitar playing. Sam is a guitar enthusiast and has been inspired by several heavyweights over the years. Still, the main man is Bert Jansch (previously featured on KLOF; his trio with Iona Zajac and Herbie Loening was called Avocet). Sam’s playing is up there with Jansch’s and his contemporaries, with an unshowy yet deft approach to the strings that sees solid melodic playing combine with subtle tricks, bringing a real quality to these songs that his fellow players match.
It is evident straight away on opening instrumental number Kishor’s, a beautifully played technical melody bolstered by light flutes from Tom Grassie and Conor Cunningham. The traditional murder ballad Put the Blood hails from Ireland, but I first heard a version of it as Henry on Fay Hield’s Orfeo album. Here, Sam uses an insistent acoustic guitar line that Alfie Jones slices through with electric guitar, and Herbie Loening pins it down with some lovely double bass playing. Sam’s voice fits the serious nature of the piece perfectly, with its low, modest burr.
Elsewhere, his version of Dave Goulder’s Sandwood (John Renbourn’s take is probably best known) is a beauty, with a nippy guitar line introducing Sam’s low, clear vocal, here with unexpected hints of Johnny Cash. Higher backing vocals from Naima Bock, Lilith Chinn and Avice Caro add vocal dimensions across the whole album, here bringing an eerie quality to the song, underpinned by winding flute lines.
The collaborators on the album are key to its overall sound, even if the touches are light throughout; listen to the delicacy of the clarsach from Iona Zajac and the sax from Nathan Pigott on the lively instrumental Orchy Falls. Each musician is there to add subtle notes to the songs, but, quite poignantly, they also played a part in helping Sam get back on track and in a place to make this assured album — and he repays them in kind, giving each the room to breathe. That Where Two Hawks Fly exists at all is remarkable; that it sounds this assured and this generous is something else entirely.
Where Two Hawks Fly (April 10th, 2026) Broadside Hacks
Pre-Order ‘Where Two Hawks Fly’: https://samgrassie.bandcamp.com/album/where-two-hawks-fly
UK Headline tour dates
29 MAR // Winchester, The Railway
31 MAR // Bristol, The Exchange Basement
1 APR // Brighton, The Rossi Bar
2 APR // London, The Ivy House
4 APR // Norwich, The Holloway
8 APR // Nottingham, The Grove
9 APR // Manchester, Eagle Inn
11 APR //Glasgow, The Hug & Pint