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The first-ever collaborative album from Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton, Death Wish Blues is a body of work born from a shared passion for pushing the limits of blues music. As one of the most dynamic forces in the blues world today, Fish has made her name as a multi-award-winning festival headliner who captivates crowds with her explosive yet elegant guitar work, delivering an unbridled form of blues-rock that defies all genre boundaries.
Dayton, meanwhile, boasts an extraordinary background that includes recording with the likes of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, touring as a guitarist for seminal punk band X, working with Rob Zombie on the soundtracks for his iconic horror films, and releasing a series of acclaimed solo albums.
Produced by the legendary Jon Spencer of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Death Wish Blues ultimately melds their eclectic sensibilities into a batch of songs both emotionally potent and wildly combustible.
As Fish reveals, the making of Death Wish Blues marked the culmination of a musical connection forged in her hometown of Kansas City over a decade ago. “It was always a big deal when Jesse came through town to a play a show—we first met when I was 20, and I kept up with him through the years,” Fish says of the Beaumont, Texas-bred musician. “I’d been wanting to do a collaborative project for a while and went to see Jesse perform in New Orleans, and right away I knew he was the guy. We got together and had this vision of making something of an alt-blues record, but it turned out to be so much more exciting and layered than I ever imagined.”
The follow-up to Fish and Dayton’s 2022 EP Stardust Sessions—a three-song effort featuring covers of classic tracks like Townes Van Zandt’s “I’ll Be Here In The Morning”—Death Wish Blues took shape at Applehead Recording & Production in Woodstock, a studio situated on a 17-acre farm once home to The Band’s Rick Danko.
Over the course of 10 frenetic days, the two musicians joined forces with bassist Kendall Wind, keyboardist Mickey Finn, and drummer Aaron Johnston, cutting most of the album live and unleashing a bold collision of blues, soul, punk, funk, and fantastically greasy rock-and-roll. With Fish and Dayton sharing vocal and guitar duties, the sonic power of each track is exponentially magnified by Spencer’s production work, endlessly tapping into the rule-breaking ingenuity that’s made him a cult hero. “Jon’s indie-rock royalty and he’s always been ahead of the game as far as moving the blues forward,” says Dayton. “For this album, we wanted to keep everything blues-based, with a lot of inspiration from people like Albert King and Magic Sam on the lead-guitar parts, but we also wanted to have fun with that and take it somewhere new and different and way outside our wheelhouse.”
One of the first songs that Fish and Dayton wrote together, the album-opening “Deathwish” immediately established the free-flowing nature of their collaboration. “Samantha sent me that melody and I went into my writing room and started coming up with some lyrics inspired by all these true-crime documentaries I’d been watching,” Dayton recalls. “It turned into a song about men taking advantage of women, and I knew that Samantha could really chew on those lyrics and sing them with a lot of attitude.” Anchored by a hot-tempered vocal performance from Fish, the result is a prime introduction to Death Wish Blues’ incendiary sound, at turns gritty, exhilarating, and indelibly hypnotic.
Later, on “Riders,” Fish and Dayton offer up a ferociously groove-heavy track built on their fiery vocal back-and-forth, reaching a majestic frenzy in the song’s final moments. “‘Riders’ is about being musicians and troubadours and having one-night stands with whatever city you happen to be in,” says Fish. “Every city is personified as a love interest or partner, and in the end, you just move on to whatever adventure is coming up next.”
Although Death Wish Blues serves up plenty of swagger and bravado, much of the album embodies a powerfully raw sensitivity. “As we were writing some of the love songs you hear on the record, I really had to open up my heart to Samantha to get to the core of what we wanted to express,” says Dayton. “It was good for me to allow myself to be that vulnerable, and I don’t know if it’s something I would’ve been able to do when I was younger.” On “Trauma,” Fish and Dayton spin a strangely thrilling portrait of heartbreak, taking on a furious momentum as Dayton lays his pain and frustration exquisitely bare. Building a heady tension between its slow-burning verses and hard-hitting chorus, “Settle for Less” unfolds as an achingly moving meditation on self-worth.
“The sentiment of that song is that if you settle for anything short of what you deserve, that’s exactly what you’re going to get,” says Fish, who co-wrote the track with her frequent collaborator Jim McCormick (Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood). And on “No Apology,” Death Wish Blues slips into a moment of heavy-hearted outpouring, with Fish’s graceful yet gut-punching vocals riding the line between tender longing and unapologetic self-possession. “‘No Apology’ is about fighting with the one you love and wanting to push through and make everything okay again,” says Fish. “It’s a love song but sort of twisted, because that’s the only kind of love song I write.”
NEW SINGLE “DEATHWISH”
RELEASED FRIDAY 3 MARCH 2023
STREAM SINGLE | *WATCH MUSIC VIDEO
TRACK LIST
- Deathwish (2:39)
- Down In The Mud (2:52)
- Riders (3:40)
- Settle For Less (3:09)
- Trauma (3:06)
- No Apology (4:16)
- Flooded Love (2:39)
- Lover On The Side (2:48)
- Rippin’ And Runnin’ (4:21)
- Dangerous People (3:31)
- Supadupabad (2:06)
- Know My Heart (3:47)
12” VINYL
SIDE A
- Deathwish
- Down In The Mud
- Rider
- Settle For Less
- Trauma
- No Apology
SIDE B
- Flooded Love
- Lover On The Side
- Rippin’ And Runnin’
- Dangerous People
- Supadupabad
- Know My Heart
MUSICIANS
Samantha Fish – Vocals, Guitar, Cigar Box Guitar, Junkyard Percussion
Jesse Dayton – Vocals, Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Tambourine
Kendall Wind – Bass
Mickey Finn – Keyboards
Aaron Johnston – Drums
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Jon Spencer
Executive Producers: Rueben Williams and Jude Chauvin
Recorded and Mixed by Chris Bittner at Applehead
Recording & Production, Woodstock, NY
Assistant Engineer: Michael Birnbaum
Mastered by Chris Athens at Chris Athens Masters, Austin, TX
Mastering assisted by Harrison Holmes
SAMANTHA FISH & JESSE DAYTON
“DEATH WISH BLUES”
OCTOBER 2023 UK TOUR
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM
alttickets.com | gigantic.com
ticketmaster.co.uk | samanthafish.com
Sunderland, The Fire Station
Thursday 19 October 2023
Glasgow, Barrowlands
Friday 20 October 2023
Manchester, Ritz
Saturday 21 October 2023
Bristol, SWX
Sunday 22 October 2023
York, Barbican
Tuesday 24th October 2023
Cambridge, Junction
Wednesday 25 October 2023
Bournemouth, O2 Academy
Thursday 26 October 2023
Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion
Friday 27 October 2023
Birmingham, O2 Institute
Saturday 28 October 2023
