Recommended
Feb 28th, 2006 at 2:21 pm by Susie
I’m a huge fan of Les Sampou’s self-titled CD, which came out in 1999. Back then, I clung to it like a raft through a particularly gruesome breakup, but it’s still one of my favorite records.
Interesting story. She was a fixture on the Boston folk scene for her blues performing when she came out with this hard-rocking album - and as a result, was frozen out of the local folkie circuit for a while. (As I recall, they didn’t invite her to her regular gig at the Boston Folk Festival that year.)
She told me she was tired of trying to buck the system (including record companies who thought they’d already filled the alt-rock “chick slot” with Lucinda Williams and one was enough), and went back to the folk world. (For one thing, no one would pay her enough to perform with a band.) But damn, this is one fine album - and you can now get free downloads over at Amazon. (”Broken Pieces” and “Hanging by A Thread” are two of my favorites.)
If you know anyone at all who chooses soundtrack music, do them a favor. Turn them on to this album.
Oh wow, I love that CD. I saw her perform in Winnipeg in the mid or early 90s and remember really digging her a lot. I don’t know if we had a live recording or some kind of demo, but she was a big hit on our little radio station. She was great onstage, but she was a little nervous being interviewed, so I tried to just ask a few easy questions to get her talking. When I asked about her “influences” for singing & playing she said she didn’t have any. I think she was the first musician I ever met who didn’t rattle off every record they ever liked. She went on to say that she didn’t consciously try to imitate anyone (which wasn’t what I meant, of course), but it was clear that she was already fed up with being compared to the other two chick acts in whatever playlist the radio had going.
I’m going to go get the downloads — thanks for the tip!
I ended up driving her to her hotel after a gig at our local folk club, and we went out to a diner and talked. Yeah, she’s been treated badly - that is to say, like the vast majority of female artists, especially the ones who don’t look like teenaged pinups.