Samuel James / Joe Fletcher

Authenticity in blues. Sick of hearing about that? Perhaps a more important issue in bringing fans back to the blues is “relevance.” Listening to Samuel James one realizes that they are listening to a rare breed in the blues world. Here is a young man, still a few years away from 30, whose debut CD is a set of 12 truly original songs. Each song is a story, an often humorous tale, of love gone haywire, or small town racism, or a folk tale of mythical symbolism.

Samuel James is equally at home on guitar, banjo, harmonica, hambone or piano. He’s steeped in the traditions of his elders but has already created his own voice that speaks with clarity and pathos to a contemporary audience.

Samuel James is the most relevant young blues artist to come our way in quite some time.

Samuel James is a performer of stunningly singular talent. A master of fingerstyle, slide, banjo, harmonica, and piano, this phenom is not yet out of his twenties. With musical influences ranging from Skip James and Sonny Terry to Gus Cannon and Charley Patton, such understanding of pre-war blues is rarely embodied in the music of one person.

www.myspace.com/sugarsmallhouse

Smokey-voiced singer Joe Fletcher sings like he just woke up and can't remember the past week. It's not quite rockabilly or C&W—and it's much too filthy to be roots—but take the best qualities of those genres and you are getting close. If even half of these lyrics are based in fact, let's hope they all share in the redemption they give the listeners. Joe Fletcher fronts the Wrong Reasons.

www.myspace.com/thewrongreasons