Entertainment

Travelling man Sam is trad to the bone

US folk star Sam Amidon might count his wife Beth Orton as a big influence but ahead of a tour of Ireland he tells Brian Campbell that he got into music after being inspired by a host of Irish players

Sam Amidon plays Belfast on September 15
Sam Amidon plays Belfast on September 15 Sam Amidon plays Belfast on September 15

US FOLK star Sam Amidon admits he’s been “quite itinerant” over the last few years, living in various parts of the US and in England.

Amidon is married to fellow singer/songwriter Beth Orton – hence living in England – but as he plays so many gigs in Ireland I ask when he’s planning to move here.

“That’s a great question – as soon as possible,” he laughs, speaking over the phone from his Los Angeles base.

Amidon first visited Ireland as a teenager and has been back countless times over the years. On his current tour, to promote new album Lily-O, he plays the National Concert Hall in Dublin twice this weekend (for the Yeats-centric Blood and the Moon concerts), then takes in Belfast on Tuesday and then Limerick, Galway, Clonakilty and Cork.

"I come over to Ireland as much as I can. I love it there,” he says. “In Vermont, where I grew up, there’s a fiddle style called the `New England fiddle style’ and when I was about 10 I started to realise that the New England style was really just a mix of French-Canadian, Irish and Appalachian-American styles. I really gravitated towards the Irish tunes.”

He recalls that his first trip to Ireland had him searching specifically for a revered Donegal fiddle player.

“I would ask my teachers to teach me the Irish tunes they knew. One of them mentioned Tommy Peoples, so I bought one of his albums and became totally obsessed.

“My first journey to Ireland was when I was 15 and my main goal was to find Tommy and I did. We went to Co Clare and asked around and found out that he had a session in Lisdoonvarna.

“I was so lucky, because the guitar player was an hour late, so for that hour it was literally me and Tommy playing dual fiddles. It was incredible; one of the most transformative moments of my life.

“I went back to Ireland when I was 18 and hitch-hiked around and I went from Donegal the whole way down the coast to Cork, so I got to experience the different regional styles.”

Singer/fiddler/banjoist/guitarist Amidon is a brilliantly talented musician, managing to span folk, trad, bluegrass, rock and indie with ease. As if to demonstrate his mix of styles and his wide appeal, he supported US indie-rocker Sharon Van Etten in Dublin earlier this year and at the end of his upcoming Irish tour curates a Pete Seeger night at the National Concert Hall featuring Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Tommy Sands and Beth Orton.

Yet he says his favourite stuff is Irish 'classic’ folk by the likes of Tommy Peoples, Frankie Gavin and Mary Bergin.

"And working with Martin Hayes and getting to sit in with The Gloaming was a dream.”

One of the other many names Amidon has collaborated with and become friends with is Glen Hansard.

“What a great spirit he is. Glen has a huge heart and he’s been an amazing supporter. He does this with other people too, where he’ll get people to do one of their songs during one of his concerts.

“Early on when I first knew him I played some violin with The Swell Season and this was before the Once movie came out. He’s been a major inspiration as a performer.”

:: Sam Amidon plays The Black Box in Belfast on Tuesday at 8pm (tickets £14 via BlackBoxBelfast.com). The album Lily-O is out now on Nonesuch. For all tour dates, see SamAmidon.com.