Samantha Crain

 

Samantha Crain is a Choctaw-American singer, songwriter, film composer, and producer from Oklahoma. A two-time winner of the Native American Music Award, Samantha defies categorisation, marrying folk music with the sounds of country rock and college indie. Samantha’s latest album, A Small Death (2020), was released on Communion’s Real Kind Records. The album received universal acclaim with tracks finding themselves in constant rotation on 6music.

Samantha has toured extensively over the past decade nationally and internationally, presenting ambitious orchestrated shows with her band as well as intimate folk leaning solo performances. She has toured with First Aid Kit, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lucy Rose, The Avett Brothers, The Mountain Goats, and many others. 

 

“Do your art. Generally, a thing cannot freeze if it is moving. So, move. Keep moving,” said poet and psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés. These were words artist Jess Nolan lived by over the course of the last three years. As everything in the world came to a halt, she kept her creative mind in motion – writing, drawing, singing, and painting her way through the unknown, pursuits Nolan has always relied on to help alchemize her surroundings.  

The seeds of her sophomore LP ’93, out this fall via Righteous Babe Records, sprouted in the height of 2020. Nolan, a member of Jenny Lewis’ all female touring band, is an in-demand co-writer, vocalist, and touring musician for artists like Katie Pruitt, Joy Oladokun, Lydia Luce, and more. In the midst of the initially involuntary stillness, she planted a backyard vegetable garden, moved her involvement in mentoring young female songwriters online, and traveled back to her New Jersey hometown to stay with family for weeks at a time. In the face of uncertainty, strong, deeply-rooted feelings came pouring out, resulting in 10 poignant reflections on rebirth, reconnection, and mindfulness.  

With an intention for listeners to feel grounded from its first moment, ‘93 is meant to be a meditation, bringing a sense of rootedness in its execution. “The process of recording this was relaxed,” Nolan recalls. “It’s the safest I’ve ever felt while creating something.”  

In an age of autotune and click tracks, Nolan and her co-producers, Will Honaker and Ross McReynolds, pursued a much more collaborative, organic approach. In December 2021, the trio, along with the help of musicians Calvin Knowles and Zachariah Witcher, set about building the tracks together live in their two-room studio, Camp Senia. The sessions were spread over the course of half a year, bringing in more dear friends who lent their talents to the process. During sessions, Nolan’s friend, Rebecca Wood, would pull up her catering mobile halfway through the day to provide a fresh and nourishing meal. The atmosphere of the album came from an open and spiritually full place.