MUSIC
Samantha Fish P H OTO : K E V I N K I N G
Fish Swims ‘Faster’
Blues songstress Samantha Fish adds a Pop dimension on her new album BY A L A N S C U L L E Y
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amantha Fish readily admits she was caught off guard when the pandemic hit in March 2020 and she had to cut short a European tour and return to her home in New Orleans. The shock was undoubtedly shared by many of her musician peers, and Fish never imagined the COVID-19
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crisis would be more than a minor speed bump interrupting her busy 2020 touring schedule. “I never thought this thing would last more than two weeks,” Fish says in a recent phone interview. “I didn’t really get comfortable with the idea that I was going to have time off until somewhere
FEBRUARY 23, 2022 - MARCH 8, 2022
in the summertime when it was like, ‘OK, wake up, wake up! This is real.’” “I just didn’t really know. The TV was yelling at me every morning telling me something kind of different. I just wasn’t sure. And we kept booking shows, but they’re pushing them back,” she continues. “I think seeing those dates on my calendar was like a little bit of a mind trick because I’d be like ‘Oh, July, we can make something work in July.’ Then July went away.” Eventually, Fish figured out a way to get back to playing live. She trimmed her band down from its previous sixperson lineup to a trio of bass, drums and Fish on her customary guitar and vocals and began playing drive-in and socially distanced shows at venues that could make reduced attendance work financially.
“We got to October (2020) and we realized, OK, we can actually do this safely,” Fish says. “We just have to have really strict rules, not only for the venues and the fans, but for us as a band as well we have to follow protocols. But it’s nice just being able to do it, even though it’s a little more restrictive than usual. I still think we’re having fun and we’re getting to play music.” Fish continued to play these sort of shows well into spring of 2021 before heading into more traditional venues as touring opened up last year. She’ll be playing with her band at Riverfront Live in the East End on March 4 with The Devon Allman Project. Getting back on the road — even for shows with limited attendance — made good sense for Fish. She didn’t just sit
