Sam Carter’s new album “Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones: Live at Celtic Connections”, is released on June 26th, 2026, via Captain Records (order via Bandcamp), and is supported by a UK Tour.
Sam Carter has had a strong connection with the great Nic Jones for many years now, first popping up on YouTube with a splendid rendition of the masterful Canadee-i-o back in 2009. Since then, he has played as Nic’s double for a BBC documentary and performed with the man himself at Sidmouth Folk Festival in 2010.
Nic Jones’ seminal Penguin Eggs was released back in 1980, and only two years later, Nic was involved in a near-fatal car accident that left him with life-altering injuries. This horrific collision abruptly stopped Nic’s career, and it was only in 2010 that he made it back on stage, singing alongside his son Joe, himself a musician who often uses his father’s repaired Fylde guitar, which suffered only a broken neck in the accident. So significant were these events that the BBC made a documentary titled The Enigma of Nic Jones: Return of Britain’s Lost Folk Hero (which premiered in 2013), in which Sam also appears as Nic’s guitar double.
So, who better than Sam to faithfully perform the works of one of our finest ever folk musicians? This album is taken from a live performance at Celtic Connections in January, but fear not if you missed that special show, as Sam will be on tour playing Nic’s songs around the country throughout this year, which will be an experience second only to Nic himself.
With thirteen songs hitting over an hour in total, Sam is careful to fill his set with a variety of numbers from Nic’s career, as well as the biggest hits, many of which occupy the final five tracks. But everything here is ace, as you would expect, with Sam’s singing and playing absolutely top draw throughout. He starts with Master Kilby from Nic’s 1978 album From the Devil to a Stranger and is careful to emulate Nic’s percussive guitar playing technique, all the while nailing his vocal lilts. It’s a beautiful song, more gentle in nature than pieces like The Humpback Whale, for example, and heartfelt in delivery.
Barrack Street is a traditional number from Penguin Eggs documenting an apparently fairly common problem of sailors coming to shore and being fleeced of their money and valuable belongings. This darkly comic tune benefits from Nic’s (and Sam’s) guitar style, with a solid beat and flicked notes adding character to the song.
A real beauty from Nic’s 1970 debut album Ballads and Songs is Annan Water, something of a composite traditional piece, with some lyrics from the Scottish borders and some written by Nic, plus a melody partially composed and partially taken from another traditional song. The resulting piece heard here has been covered by many after Nic, and it is clear why. A yearning, melancholy and wonderful song of tragedy and lost love, Sam’s plaintive vocal is ideal, and he backs himself with a gently picked, undulating guitar part.
The last four songs here are about as strong as it gets, and all are taken from Penguin Eggs, one of the finest folk albums ever released; it was named Folk Album of the Year by Melody Maker in 1980. It’s a record that never ages. Its final track, Farewell to the Gold, is a 1968 working song with a killer chorus, written by Dutch-born New Zealand-British songwriter and performer Paul Metsers. It made a fitting finale for that album, but Sam keeps three more in his pocket.
The first of two are works by the Scottish-born Australian seaman, engineer, folk-singer/songwriter, poet and activist Harry Robertson. The Humpback Whale (titled Ballina Whalers by Robertson) is a buoyant story of whale fishing with short verses and a rousing chorus. Robertson’s second song is my favourite from Penguin Eggs. The Little Pot Stove (née Wee Pot Stove) is a narrative about the whaling ship repair workers based in wintertime Leith Harbour, South Georgia. With a yearning, almost weary character, as well as tongue-in-cheek humour and beautiful writing, this is a pretty perfect song, played spotlessly by Sam, with clean guitar and emotive singing (including some lovely audience participation).
Canadee-i-o is the one that started it all for Sam, and it’s still probably Nic’s most well-known tune. An English adventure ballad telling of a girl dressing as a sailor to follow her love to sea and escaping a maritime execution, only to marry the ship’s captain, this is a beautifully uplifting tale of eventually realised ambition. Although Bob Dylan includes an interesting version on his Good As I Been to You album, Nic’s take is the strongest and Sam delivers it spot on, channelling Nic’s energy and easy vibe on Penguin Eggs. It’s a lovely, heartfelt song, even if the sailor boy does vanish from it…
Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones is a faithful, generous tribute to one of the UK’s finest folk musicians. Carter knows these songs inside out and delivers them with real passion and the care they deserve. It’s a record that hands the tradition on — proof that the cycle of folk music and storytelling is in good health. Perfect.
Here’s a new version of Nic’s classic track, Canadee-i-o, that Sam shared on KLOF Mag recently, to celebrate the announcement:
Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones: Live at Celtic Connections (June 26, 2026) Captain Records
BALLADS AND SONGS: SAM CARTER SINGS NIC JONES • UK TOUR 2026
Tickets: https://samcartermusic.co.uk/gigs
13 June — Gower Folk Festival, Gower, Wales
26 July — Warwick Folk Festival, Warwickshire
06 August — Sidmouth Folk Festival, Sidmouth
11 August — Broadstairs Folk Week, Broadstairs
23 August — Folk East, Suffolk
29 August — Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Shrewsbury
16 September — Cecil Sharp House, London
17 September — The Spring, Havant, Hampshire
18 September — The Stables, Milton Keynes
19 September — Durham Folk Festival, Durham
20 September — The Greystones, Sheffield
24 September — Exeter Phoenix, Exeter
25 September — The Pound, Corsham, Wiltshire
26 September — Wolverhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton
27 September — The Crescent, York
01 October — Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich
04 October — Cambridge Junction, Cambridge
08 October — Waterside Arts (Chambers), Sale, Manchester
09 October — St Mary’s Creative Space, Chester
10 October — Derby Folk Festival, Derby
More: https://samcartermusic.co.uk/