Nashville-based country-soul-blues singer-songwriter Sam Lewis announces UK tour including three Welsh dates: Sin City, Swansea on Tuesday February 5, Blue Sky Café, Bangor on Wednesday February 6 and Hang Fire Southern Kitchen, Barry on Sunday February 10, in support of acclaimed new album Loversity – please see below for further information, tour itinerary, audio and video links.
“Loversity is a timely reminder that diversity and unity can co-exist.” Blues Matters!
“Superb soulful album from rising Nashville star…Loversity is beautifully played, produced and felt – and likely to stand as one of early 2019’s most talked-about albums.” Country Music magazine (4 stars)
“Elements of groove, soul and blues makes this a definite crowd-pleaser that will remind you of the classics whilst keeping you in the now.” Maverick (4 stars)
“Lewis proves he’s a talent to be reckoned with.” No Depression
For further information, interview, session or guest list requests please contact:
G Promo PR
UK/European Press & Radio
Contact: Geraint or Deb Jones
Phone: +44 (0) 1584 873211
Email: gpromo@btinternet.com
Web: www.gpromopr.com
Audio: Loversity
Full album stream via SoundCloud
Video: ‘One and the Same’ (Official Video), ‘Loversity’ (Official Video) & ‘Natural Disaster’ (Official Video)
Sam Lewis
LOVERSITY
New album …out now
www.facebook.com/samlewistunes
www.twitter.com/@samlewistunes
TOURING UK JANUARY 30-MARCH 9 2019
Like many before him, Sam Lewis came to Nashville to make music. But unlike the majority, Lewis managed to hop on one of the most successful tours that country music has seen as of late. He’s collaborated with everyone from John Prine and Kacey Musgraves to The Wood Brothers. Chris Stapleton dubbed him “a modern Townes Van Zandt”. And while he’s often labelled with some form of the word ‘soulful’ (some have even compared his voice to molasses), Lewis’ style meets at a juncture of many different genres. There’s something about Sam Lewis that is indescribably different – and with his newest project, he’s discovered what most musicians spend lifetimes working for – the place where feel-good music meets vital social commentary.
When Lewis decided to make the move from Knoxville to Nashville in summer 2009, he was still working full-time at Walmart (a gig that lasted nearly a decade). In his off-time, he began playing smaller local venues including the 5 Spot, where he met fellow singer-songwriter Matt Urmy. After forming a friendship, Urmy offered to help Lewis “We went to his basement, I laid down some songs, we pieced a band together and made a record in a couple days at Eastwood Studios.” That record would become Lewis’s first official release and self-titled debut that featured Nashville greats Kenny Vaughan, Reggie Bradley Smith, Dave Jacques, and Derek Mixon. And with Lewis’ sole intention of moving to be a musician that ‘records it and tours it’ – he did just that – travelling from Nashville to New York via train to play shows, then spending a month in England.
By late 2014, Lewis had turned 30, established himself with the Nashville music scene, and signed with the boutique Georgia label, Brash Records. With the help of Brash and producer Oliver Wood of The Wood Brothers, Lewis released his second full length, Waiting on You, in April 2015. The album was critically acclaimed and once again featured Kenny Vaughan, in addition to Darrell Scott, Gabe Dixon, the McCrary Sisters, and Willie Nelson’s legendary harmonica player, Mickey Raphael. While No Depression compared Lewis’ soulful style with the likes of Al Green and Van Morrison, Craig Havighurst (Music City Roots) coined Waiting on You as “Americana with a groovy twist”. While the album racked in incredible reviews, Lewis’ booking agency also got bought out in the same time frame – unfortunately leaving him with a solid album, but no tour dates to show for it.
Lewis applied to work at a Post Office in East Nashville but by the time he got a call for a second interview, someone else had called with a more enticing offer: the opening spot for the Traveler release show, Chris Stapleton’s Grammy-winning album. From there, life moved fast. Lewis toured with Stapleton for the remainder of summer 2015, and by January 2016, found himself playing sold-out 2 and 3-night shows at venues like The Tabernacle and the Ryman Auditorium.
Lewis’ forthcoming record Loversity is set to be released in the UK & Ireland on January 18 2019. The album is composed of 14 tracks that Lewis has spent over a year and a half writing and playing for others. Since Waiting on You, his classic style remains present yet matured, with a more refined worldview, “These newer songs have been harder to write, but extremely necessary given the current climate I find the world in.” Recorded at Southern Ground Studios with engineer and co-producer Brandon Bell, the album spans from upbeat songs like the title track ‘Loversity’ to the darker ‘One in the Same’, an electric guitar heavy ballad with a driving force reminiscent of the Black Keys’ Brothers. While most songs are originals, the record includes ‘Accidental Harmony’, a lullaby that fellow Nashville songwriter John Mann wrote for his first born child, and ‘Natural Disaster’, a Loudon Wainwright song that Lewis felt drawn to.
And while each song varies in tone, they all circle back to one universal theme. “This is the closest thing I’ll ever write to a concept album. The idea is that we are all trying to get somewhere – all running from something and toward something. We’re all together in it, though.” As current events in the world divide the masses based on difference, Sam Lewis’ new album is a soul-filled, catchy collection of reminders that diversity and unity can co-exist.
SAM LEWIS · JANUARY-MARCH 2019 · UK TOUR
JANUARY
Wed 30 London PaperDress VintageAmericanaFest UK showcase
Thu 31 Bristol The Louisiana
FEBRUARY
Fri 1 Ashford Revelation Ashford, St. Mary’s Church
Sun 3 Kingskerswell, Devon Kingskerswell Parish Church
Tue 5 Swansea Sin City
Wed 6 Bangor, North Wales Blue Sky Café
Thu 7 Shrewsbury Henry Tudor House
Fri 8 Sunderland Independent
Sun 10 Barry Hang Fire Southern Kitchen
Wed 13 Norwich The Waterfront Studio
Thu 14 Melbourne, nr. Derby Melbourne Assembly Rooms
Fri 15 Colston Bassett, Notts. Colston Bassett Village Hall
Sat 16 Barton-under-Needwood, Staffs. Barton-under-Needwood Village Hall
Sun 17 Crowland, Lincs. Crowland Abbey
Wed 20 Grayshott Applegarth Farm
Thu 21 Cricklade, Wilts. The Old Stables
Fri 22 Glastonbury Hawthorns
Sat 23 Leeds Seven Arts
Thu 28 Manchester The Castle Hotel
MARCH
Fri 1 Newcastle Studio in Live Theatre
Sat 2 Glasgow Glad Cafe
Tue 5 Cambridge Junction 2
Wed 6 London Green Note
Praise for Sam Lewis’ Waiting on You (2015)
“A wonderful album …among the very best bluesmen I’ve ever heard.” Frank Hennessy, Celtic Heartbeat, BBC Radio Wales
“Irresistible…easy-going blend of soul, country and blues” The Blues Magazine (8/10)
“The first thing that strikes you about Sam Lewis is the voice, a laid back sound that evokes cream sliding over black coffee, dark bourbon rippling over ice, whatever images it evokes it’s supremely soulful and deeply affecting. Simple as that.” FolkWords
“Everything sounds effortless and completely natural, particularly Lewis’s voice, and the results are perfect for a Sunday morning coming down.” Maverick (3.5 stars)
“The easy groove, and warm, effortless, gravel-edged voice reel you in from the very start… he sounds from another time, or timeless. Either way, good.” Mojo (4 stars)
“…warm and classy…if you’re in the mood for mellow, Waiting on You is a most agreeable prospect” R2 (4 stars)
“…must rank as one of the most compelling singer-songwriter packages that I’ve come across in many a long year, with Sam’s supremely soulful country croon often strangely reminiscent of “Self Portrait” era Dylan” Yorkshire Evening Post
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