Breakfast on Friday morning with
Sam Coe was interrupted by her constantly checking the iTunes charts – totally
understandable as her album had launched and hit Number 3 in the country
charts, behind Luke Combs and Lady Antebellum
Keen though she was to check
the chart position, sales aren’t the be all and end all for the album (although
much appreciated!) Sam is more keen that people enjoy it, and that people come
to her shows to hear her music. Clearly
performing her music is what is most important to Sam.
The album launch itself took
pace the previous night at the very historic Epic Studios in Norwich.
The evening opened with
local singer songwriter Breeze Redwine with her country influenced brand of
rock, singing with her acoustic guitar and a backing track. Ags Connolly was up next on a line up that
reflected the excitement of the evening.
Ags brings a real Country feel, with his Oxfordshire burr, his self-deprecating
humour and his beautifully honest songs. He doesn’t have many “happy2 songs,
but even his downbeat songs feel uptempo!
The Fatherline then too to the stage to really warm up the crowd ahead
of the main event. A very experienced
band for one so new – on only their fifth gig together. Tim Prottey-Jones
showed the power and range of his vocals as well as his great stage presence,
accompanied by Rich Watson and Steven Marks
And so to the main event.
With the album 9 months in the making there were some understandable nerves in
the green room, but Sam swept onto the stage and powered out that songs from
her new album. Excited to have backing
singers for the first time (and more excited that they did the backing singers
dance!) Sam effortlessly switched between guitar, keys and just singing. Her
vocal range and power is stunning and she utterly filled the room with music.
The album itself is a showcase of Sam’s talent and influences, and this launch
paid testament to that and more.
Each track was introduced
with a little story. We learned that the beautifully atmospheric In The
Moments was the track that gave birth to the album, that Concrete
was inspired by the TV series Chernobyl and that Bonfire was written on
Bonfire night 2018!
Sam was joined on stage by
another artist from the Ginger Dog label – Vincent Knight – on guitar, Sam sat
at the Keyboard for them to duet on a cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game, which
allowed Sam to demonstrate the absolute purity of her voice and the notes hit
all four corners of this former TV studio
Simon James, label mate and
close friend not only played lead guitar but performed one of his own songs
giving Sam the chance of a quick break “To drink some more prosecco”. In reality, while most singers would have
taken the opportunity of a costume change, Sam instead took some quick photos
and then prepared her latest toy – her white Gretsch which she brought on
stage.
Saving the best till last,
the show ended with the title track and Sam’s personal anthem Comeback Queen,
but there was more. As the band came
off, the comeback queen came back for one last song – a solo rendition of Merry-Go-Round to
end the night.
Comeback Queen is a stunning
album, with many musical influences showing off Sam Coe’s obvious talent as a
songwriter and performer. The launch evening was the same – a fabulous showcase
full of talent from start to finish, and very fitting for such a piece of work
Available to download and
stream now, we will be hearing a lot more of this album and of Sam Coe across 2020 and beyond
