imp & vocoustics present: Sam Carter + This Heroic Routine @ The Blue Lamp, 17 Sep

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interesting music promotions and Vocoustics present

SAM CARTER + THIS HEROIC ROUTINE

Friday, 17 September 2010

The Blue Lamp, 121 Gallowgate, Aberdeen, AB25 1BU. Phone: 01224 647472

Doors 8pm

Tickets 6+bf in adv / 8 on door

Available from One-Up Records, Belmont Street, Aberdeen. Phone (01224) 642662 or http://www.ticketweb.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/interestingmusic

http://www.myspace.com/vocoustics

SAM CARTER

BBC Folk Awards 2010 - Winner of the Horizon Award for best newcomer

A startlingly perceptive and self-assured young singer and guitarist from the English midlands, Sam Carter has spent the last few years busily honing his craft both as a writer and performer, studying guitar with Martin Simpson and touring with Bellowhead whilst holding down his post as Emerging Artist in Residence at Londons Southbank Centre.

Armed with a killer voice (Nitin Sawhney) and the ability to play his guitar like a harp (Time Out), as well as an unerring ability to put his personal experiences into a wider perspective, the east London-based songsmith made his mark with his debut album Keepsakes released August 2009.

Picking up from where the intricate guitar and haunting (Eliza Carthy) storytelling of his EP Here In The Ground (released April 08 via Proper) left off, in August 2009 Sam released his debut album Keepsakes on his own Captain Records. Keepsakes is a collection of ten songs of rare depth and detail that belie their authors tender years. Thats not to say that it doesnt pack a punch; Sam kicks the album into life with Yellow Sign spitting a fiery tale of east end violence over breakneck and impossibly intricate fingerstyle guitar work.

Elsewhere is a striking rendering of Oh Dear, Rue The Day, a traditional folk song and tale of romantic deceit and bitterness. Drums and acoustic bass pound as Sams visceral vocals set the scene and are matched in intensity by support from Bellowheads prodigious young fiddler Sam Sweeney.

The album closes in a headily reflective vein with Spill Those Secrets, a beautiful and heartrendingly fragile song where Sams tender voice and guitar are ushered towards the albums final climactic moment by cello and piano:

Spill those secrets one at a time, come the morning theyll be with mine

This final lyric features in the beautiful album artwork alongside a series of images of curious objects. At Sams request, fans sent him their very own keepsakes along with a note revealing their personal significance. The keepsakes were then photographed by the British Design and Art Direction award-winning Thom Atkinson ensuring that the audio and visual elements of the album work beautifully in tandem with the music.

In November 2009 Sam received a nomination for the Horizon Award for best newcomer in the 2010 BBC Folk Awards. On February 1st, at the London award ceremony Sam Carter was announced as the winner of the 2010 Horizon Award. The award was presented to him by Nitin Sawhney with whom Sam had collaborated on the Aftershock project at Londons Southbank.

Clearly, to be able to play the guitar this well at such a young age means hes sold his soul at the crossroads and will shortly be having a cup of fire tea and a brimstone scone with Hitler. (Allgigs.co.uk)

One of the most gifted acoustic guitarists of his generation (Mike Harding, Radio 2)

I have a feeling, and Im not alone, that Sam Carter is going to be huge. (Irish World)

Theres real talent budding here. (**** Independent on Sunday)

An English acoustic virtuoso... reminiscent of John Martyn (Guitarist)

Tunes like Taxi and Captain could well be the work of a great songwriter in the making. (Guitar & Bass)

The Young English folk singer and guitarist Sam Carters album debut Keepsakes is a surefire collectable (Independent)

http://www.myspace.com/samjohncarter

Local support from THIS HEROIC ROUTINE

http://www.myspace.com/thisheroicroutine