Samantha Fish - Paper Doll Live
(Rounder Records, 2026)
Samantha Fish is a multi-award-winning American blues-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter noted for her explosive live performances, fierce slide-guitar mastery, and genre-bending artistry. She readily navigates between blues, roots-rock, soul, and country, while establishing herself as a formidable guitarist and possessor of an intense work ethic.
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, the singer grew up in a musical household. She began her instrumental journey on the drums before switching to the guitar at age 15. Heavily influenced by the raw emotion of Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughan—alongside the gritty rock-and-roll organicity of The Rolling Stones—she spent her late teens gigging in local bars and sitting in with touring musicians at Kansas City’s famous Knuckleheads Saloon.
Fish came to public attention after the release of her independently produced Live Bait in 2009 at the tender age of 20. Ruf Records took notice of her, adding the guitarist to their Girls With Guitars project (Ruf Records, 2011), with Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde. The guitarist’s official solo debut, Runaway (Ruf Records, 2011), earned her the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist, launching an ambitious touring schedule of 200-plus dates a year (a testament to her solid midwestern work ethic. Seeking a fresh creative muse, Fish later moved to New Orleans, a city whose vibrant cultural gumbo further influenced her sonic palette.
Since Runaway, Fish has released ten more albums, including her duo album Death Wish Blues (Rounder Records, 2023) with Texas roots musician Jesse Dayton and 2025’s Paper Doll (Rounder Records), both earning Grammy Award nominations for Best Contemporary Blues Album. This confluence of talent, grit, and recognition provides the context for the present Paper Doll Live. Fish’s first live recording since Live Bait is not just another standard live document intended to meet a contractural obligation; it arrives at a crucial point of peak artistic validation and intense global momentum for Fish.
Fish's "declaration of artistic power," Paper Doll, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Blues chart. The underlying concept of Paper Doll explores themes of identity, self-perception, and the defiance of societal expectations placed on women. Samantha Fish emerges in 2026 with seasoned grace and a firm understanding of her audience. While she distances herself from the blues artist identification, she keeps her respect for the genre while expanding its perimeter. She does this with an informed ease that leaves those coming up behind her an example of appreciation and gratitude.
Fish’s developing songwriting specifically structured the studio environment of Paper Doll, extending that structure into the logical next step, Paper Doll Live. Fish openly notes that she writes music with the stage in mind. The live recording represents the “unleashing” of that studio energy. Recorded in front of a passionate crowd at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee, the album functions as her first polished, official live release. The record prominently highlights the telepathic musical chemistry of her touring band, rendered tight as a drum by practice and touring. The result is a confident statement by Fish, personally and professionally.
The setlist for this live recording is generous. While concentrating on the Paper Doll material, Fish seasons the performance with songs from throughout her catalog. Of singular interest is her searing performance on “I Put a Spell on You.” This cover of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins original has been in the guitarist’s book since the beginning. Compare this performance with that found on Live Bait, and one can hear how far Samantha Fish has come as an artist.
Setlist: Kick Out the Jams; Paper Doll; Can Ya Handle the Heat?; I Put a Spell On You; I’m Done Runnin’; Lose You; Sweet Southern Sounds; Bulletproof; Miles to Go; Fortune Teller; Better Be Lonely; Dream Girl; Don’t Say It; Poor Black Mattie; Rusty Razor; Black Wind Howlin’.
Band personnel: Samantha Fish: guitar, vocals; Ron Johnson: bass; Mickey Finn: keyboards; Jamie Douglass: drums.
Discography
The Samantha Fish Blues Band, Live Bait (Samantha Fish Productions, 2009)
Samantha Fish / Cassie Taylor / Dani Wilde, Girls With Guitars (Ruf Records, 2011)
Samantha Fish, Runaway (Ruf Records, 2011)
Samantha Fish / Cassie Taylor / Dani Wilde, Girls With Guitars Live (Ruf Records, 2012)
Samantha Fish, Black Wind Howlin’ (Ruf Records, 2013)
Jimmy Hall / Reese Wynans / Samantha Fish / Kate Moss / Danielle Schnebelen / Kris Schnebelen, The Healers (Blue Star Connection, 2013)
Samantha Fish, Wild Heart (Ruf Records, 2015)
Samantha Fish, Chills & Fevers (Ruf Records, 2017)
Samantha Fish, Belle of the West (Ruf Records, 2017)
Samantha Fish, Kill or Be Kind (Ruf Records, 2019)
Samantha Fish, Faster (Rounder Records, 2021)
Samantha Fish / Jesse Dayton, Death Wish Blues (Rounder Records, 2023)
Samantha Fish, Paper Doll (Rounder Records, 2025)