{{short description|American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Vermont}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Use American English|date=September 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | image = Sam Amidon-1160199.jpg | caption = Amidon at the [[Moers Festival]] 2016 | name = Sam Amidon | birth_name = Samuel Tear Amidon | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|06|03}} | birth_place = [[Brattleboro, Vermont]], United States | occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|multi-instrumentalist}} | instrument = [[Vocals]], [[guitar]], [[banjo]], [[fiddle]] | genre = [[Folk music|Folk]] | label = [[Nonesuch Records|Nonesuch]], [[Bedroom Community]], [[Plug Research]] | years_active = | background = solo_singer | website = {{URL|samamidonmusic.com/}} }} '''Samuel Tear Amidon''' (born June 3, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
==Early life== Amidon's parents are folk artists Peter Amidon and Mary Alice Amidon.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.amidonmusic.com | title=The Amidons - Home |website=Amidonmusic.com| access-date=2015-05-12}}</ref> They were members of [[Bread and Puppet Theater]] in the 1970s, touring with the group in [[Europe]] and living on the Bread and Puppet Farm in Glover, [[Vermont]]. They appeared on the 1977 Nonesuch recording ''Rivers of Delight with the Word of Mouth Chorus'', a classic recording of shape-note/[[Sacred Harp]] folk hymns by early [[United States|American]] [[composers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/rivers-of-delight-american-folk-hymns-from-the-sacred-harp-tradition|title=Nonesuch Records Rivers of Delight: American Folk Hymns from the Sacred Harp Tradition|website=Nonesuch Records Official Website|date=May 29, 2008 |access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> His younger brother, Stefan Amidon, is a professional drummer who performs with The Sweetback Sisters<ref>[http://www.sweetbacksisters.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128172125/http://www.sweetbacksisters.com/|date=January 28, 2011}}</ref> among other groups.
Amidon grew up in [[Brattleboro, Vermont]], where he sang in the family band with his parents and played [[fiddle]] from the age of 3. By 13 he was playing professionally with pianist [[Doveman|Thomas Bartlett]], a childhood friend, and with his brother Stefan, in the contradance band Popcorn Behavior. Inspired by groups such as Wild Asparagus and Nightingale, as well as the traditional Irish fiddlers [[Martin Hayes (musician)|Martin Hayes]] and [[Tommy Peoples]], Popcorn Behavior released their first [[album]] in 1994 when Amidon and Bartlett were 14 and 13, respectively, and Stefan was 10. Keith Murphy joined the group for their third album and the band toured throughout the country, released five albums, and were interviewed on NPR's "All Things Considered", all while the band members were still in high school.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1036059|title=Popcorn Behavior|website=npr.org|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/sam-amidon-an-old-folk-head-on-young-shoulders-1.1572030|title=Sam Amidon – an old folk head on young shoulders|website=irishtimes.com|access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> Amidon attended [[The Putney School]] in [[Putney, Vermont]] for one year.
As a teenager, Amidon discovered music by artists such as [[Tony Conrad]], [[Albert Ayler]], [[Yo La Tengo]], [[Miles Davis]] and [[Don Cherry (singer)|Don Cherry]], as well as reissues of field recordings of the ''Old Weird America'' such as the [[Anthology of American Folk Music|Harry Smith Anthology]], the [[Southern Journey|Alan Lomax Southern Journey]] series, and the songs of [[Dock Boggs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kithfolk.com/kithfolk-blog/2015/8/19/sam-amidon-premiere|title=Album Stream: Cassette Release of Sam Amidon's Home Alone Inside My Head|website=kithfolk.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> In the early 2000s, he lived in New York City and played in the experimental indie rock bands [[Doveman]] and [[Stars Like Fleas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11145-all-is-well/|title=Samamidon: All Is Well Album Review|website=pitchfork.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref>
==Music career== In 2001, Amidon self-released ''Solo Fiddle'', an album of traditional Irish fiddle instrumentals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://samamidon.bandcamp.com/album/solo-fiddle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109042845/http://samamidon.bandcamp.com/album/solo-fiddle |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-11-09 |title=''Solo Fiddle'' at Bandcamp |publisher=Bandcamp.com |access-date=2013-11-07 }}</ref>
Amidon's first album of songs, ''[[But This Chicken Proved False Hearted]]'' (2007), was made with longtime collaborator [[Doveman|Thomas Bartlett]] and was initially released on the [[Los Angeles]]-based electronic label [[Plug Research]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plugresearch.com/tag/but-this-chicken-proved-falsehearted/|title=but this chicken proved falsehearted - Plug Research|website=Plugresearch.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> It was reissued on CD and LP in 2015 by [[Omnivore Recordings]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://omnivorerecordings.com/music/but-this-chicken-proved-falsehearted/|title=But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted|website=Omnivorerecordings.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref>
His second album, ''[[All Is Well (Sam Amidon album)|All Is Well]]'' (2008), was produced, recorded and mixed by [[Valgeir Sigurðsson]] at [[Greenhouse Studios]] in [[Iceland]] and featured orchestral arrangements by [[Nico Muhly]]. His third album, ''[[I See the Sign]]'' (2010), was also produced by Sigurðsson and featured multi-instrumentalist [[Shahzad Ismaily]] and orchestral arrangements by Muhly, with guest vocals by [[Beth Orton]]. Both albums were released on the Icelandic label/collective [[Bedroom Community]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bedroomcommunity.net|title=Bedroom Community|website=Bedroomcommunity.net}}</ref> and met with critical acclaim<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/i-see-the-sign/sam-amidon|title=I See The Sign by Sam Amidon|website=metacritic.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> from sources such as [[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]], [[Stylus Magazine]] and the [[New York Times]], which chose ''I See the Sign'' as a top-ten album of 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/music/19ratiliff.html|title=Redrawing Rhythmic Strategies|date=19 December 2010|access-date=9 July 2017|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
Amidon's fourth album, ''[[Bright Sunny South]]'', produced by Bartlett and Jerry Boys, was released 14 May 2013, his first on [[Nonesuch Records]]. His next album, ''[[Lily-O]]'', recorded with a band consisting of Ismaily, [[Bill Frisell]], and Chris Vatalaro, was released on the same label on 30 September 2014. "A hauntingly beautiful new album" according to the [[New York Times]], [[PopMatters]] called it "a thing of beauty and wonder, bold and strong".
Amidon's next album, ''[[The Following Mountain]]'', was released in May 2017, again on Nonesuch Records. It was his first album of original compositions, contrary to his previous work, which mostly reworked existing music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jun/01/sam-amidon-the-following-mountain-review-nonesuch|title=Sam Amidon: The Following Mountain review – gritty, personal new paths in folk|first=Jude|last=Rogers|date=1 June 2017|accessdate=14 December 2020|website=Theguardian.com}}</ref>
Amidon has appeared as a guest artist on albums by [[Tune-Yards]], [[Glen Hansard]], [[Jacob Collier]], Mx Justin Vivian Bond, Olof Arnalds, [[The Blind Boys of Alabama]], [[The National (band)|The National]]'s Grateful Dead Tribute Day Of The Dead, and others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-amidon-mn0000621340/credits|title=Sam Amidon - Credits - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> He has also self-published a book, ''Notes On The Twitterographer''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://samamidon.kungfustore.com/all-products/notes-on-the-twitterographer-book-sam12.html|title=Notes on the Twitterographer (Book) - All Products|website=samamidon.kungfustore.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref>
==Live performances== Amidon tours extensively throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan, and has appeared at festivals such as [[End of the Road Festival|End of the Road]], [[Green Man Festival|Green Man]], [[Roskilde Festival|Roskilde]], [[Lowlands (festival)|Lowlands]], Pickathon, Solid Sound, Big Ears, [[Celebrate Brooklyn]], The Sydney Festival, the [[Jaipur Literature Festival]], and others. He has become known for freewheeling concert performances,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenplec.com/review-sam-amidon-at-pavilion-theatre/|title=Review: Sam Amidon at Pavilion Theatre - News|date=29 July 2012|website=goldenplec.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> often with Vatalaro and Ismaily.
In 2007 he premiered Muhly's ''The Only Tune'' at [[Carnegie Hall]] as part of John Adams's In Your Ear festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/arts/music/19muhl.html|title=A Strange Brew of Ye Olde and Ye Very Freshly Minted|date=19 March 2007|website=The New York Times|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> He has performed the piece at London's [[Roundhouse (venue)|Roundhouse]] and [[Barbican]], as well as at Cork's Safe Harbour festival in collaboration with the [[Crash Ensemble]]. Writing about the recorded version of ''The Only Tune'', which appeared on Muhly's 2008 album ''Mothertongue'', Greil Marcus said, "It's incalculably spooky, the way the action comes out of nowhere, the way Amidon has prepared you to expect nothing."
Between 2002 and 2006, Amidon devised a multimedia program called "Home Alone Inside My Head," consisting of "self-inflicted field recordings," drawn [[comics]], short videos, [[storytelling]] and [[improvisation]]. He excerpted the project online and performed it in full at experimental music and art spaces around [[New York City]] and [[Brooklyn]] and beyond, including NYC's [[The Kitchen (art institution)|The Kitchen]] and MAD Museum, Monkeytown in Brooklyn, the AVA gallery on NYC's [[Lower East Side]], [[Cincinnati]]'s CAC, the Kuhturm Gallery in [[Leipzig]], and MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA.<ref>{{Citation|last=MASS MoCA|title=MASS MoCA announcement by Sam|date=2011-11-17|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YUq6eACiA0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/sam-amidon-slightly-cracked-folk-singer-extraordinaire-is-playing-the-kitchen-november-19-20-6627175|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317144855/http://www.villagevoice.com/music/sam-amidon-slightly-cracked-folk-singer-extraordinaire-is-playing-the-kitchen-november-19-20-6627175|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 17, 2017|title=Sam Amidon, Slightly Cracked Folk-Singer Extraordinaire, Is Playing The Kitchen November 19–20|last=Harvilla|first=Rob|date=2010-11-02|work=The Village Voice}}</ref>
Amidon has performed as part of the [[Bedroom Community]] Whale Watching Tour<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bedroomcommunity.net/whale_watching_tour|title=Bedroom Community > Whale Watching Tour|website=Bedroomcommunity.net|access-date=March 16, 2017|archive-date=March 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317055157/http://www.bedroomcommunity.net/whale_watching_tour|url-status=dead}}</ref> at The [[Barbican]] and [[Reykjavík]]'s Harpa concert hall. He has also appeared in 2015 and 2016 at the [[Bon Iver]]-curated Eaux Claires festival in [[Wisconsin]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/67499-bon-iver-debut-new-album-in-concert-live-blog/|title=Bon Iver Debut New Album in Concert: Live Blog - Pitchfork|website=Pitchfork.com|date=August 13, 2016 |access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> performing his own music and appearing onstage as guest vocalist with [[Bon Iver]], Richard Reed Parry, and parading the grounds of the festival leading a pop-up "Guitarkestra." In September 2016, Amidon hosted a multi-artist tribute to Pete Seeger at [[Ireland]]'s National Concert Hall in [[Dublin]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nch.ie/Online/Press-Tradition-Now-2015|title=National Concert Hall pays Tribute to Pete Seeger in TRADITION NOW|date=2015-07-06|website=Nch.ie}}</ref> featuring Irish and American artists such as [[Tommy Sands (Irish folk singer)|Tommy Sands]], [[Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh]], [[The Voice Squad]], Bell X1 and others. Amidon has done collaborative concerts and mini-tours with artists such as [[Bill Frisell]], [[Nels Cline]], [[Jason Moran (musician)|Jason Moran]], and [[Marc Ribot]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.billfrisell.com/news/string-theory-sam-amidon-jason-moran-and-alicia-hall-moran|title=String Theory with Sam Amidon, Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran - www.billfrisell.com|website=Billfrisell.com|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> In February 2017 he toured as soloist with the [[Australian Chamber Orchestra]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aco.com.au/whats_on/event_detail/murderredemption17|title=Murder & Redemption|website=Aco.com.au|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref> under the direction of [[Pekka Kuusisto]], including performances at the [[Sydney Opera House]], [[Sydney Recital Hall]], and concerts throughout the country. In 2020 he played at the first edition of the [[Monheim Triennale]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://monheim-triennale.de/en/the-artists/sam-amidon|title=Sam Amidon|website=Monheim Triennale|language=en|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref>
==Personal life== Amidon is married to musician [[Beth Orton]]. They have a son, Arthur, born in 2011.<ref name=Sugaring>{{cite web|first=Tim|last=Adams |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/23/beth-orton-interview-sugaring-season |title=Beth Orton: 'I started to believe I had run my course' | Music | The Observer |publisher=Guardian |date=2012-09-23 |access-date=2013-04-13}}</ref> Based in London,<ref name=Sugaring /> the musicians lived in [[Los Angeles]] for several years before returning to the UK.<ref name=RedBull>{{cite web|url=http://www.redbull.com/en/music/stories/1331721213165/folk-artist-sam-amidon-delivers-an-exclusive-mix|title=Listen to an exclusive mix from Sam Amidon|date=2015-05-11|first=Chris|last=Parkin|publisher=Red Bull Music Academy}}</ref>
==Solo discography== * ''Solo Fiddle'' (2001) * ''Home Alone Inside My Head'' (live multimedia performance, 2003) * ''[[But This Chicken Proved False Hearted|But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted]]'' (as Samamidon) (2007 out-of-print; Omnivore Recordings, 2015 re-release) * ''[[All Is Well (Sam Amidon album)|All Is Well]]'' (as Samamidon) (Bedroom Community, 2008) * ''[[I See the Sign]]'' (Bedroom Community, 2010) * ''[[Bright Sunny South]]'' (Nonesuch, 2013) * ''[[Lily-O]]'' (Nonesuch, 2014) * ''[[The Following Mountain]]'' (Nonesuch, 2017) *''[[Folk Songs (Kronos Quartet album)|Folk Songs]]'' (with [[Kronos Quartet]], Nonesuch, 2017) * ''Spike Driver Blues'' (Nonesuch single, 2019) * ''Fatal Flower Garden (A Tribute to Harry Smith)'' (Nonesuch EP, 2019) * ''Sam Amidon'' (2020) * ''[[Salt River (album)|Salt River]]'' (River Lea, 2025)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{Bandcamp|samamidon}} *[https://observer.com/2014/11/sam-amidons-new-weird-america/ Interview with Observer (2014)] *[https://suzieexplores.buzzsprout.com/1993936/10985121-sam-amidon Amidon on the Suzie Explores podcast with Suzie Collier]
{{Sam Amidon|state=expanded}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amidon, Sam}} [[Category:1981 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Brattleboro, Vermont]] [[Category:Folk musicians from Vermont]] [[Category:The Putney School alumni]] [[Category:American folk guitarists]] [[Category:American folk singers]] [[Category:Plug Research artists]] [[Category:Nonesuch Records artists]] [[Category:21st-century American banjoists]] [[Category:21st-century American fiddlers]]