Blues guitarist and blues singer-songwriter Samantha Fish (b. Jan. 30, 1989, Kansas City) is now a celebrated blues artist despite her young age. In addition to the successes of her own albums; the first of which, Live Bait, was released in 2009, Fish is also carried on blues hands by Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Mike Zito (her mentor). She has also since received a dozen blues awards. Bonnie Riatt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Petty (Fish includes the Tom Petty song Louisiana Rain on her 2011 album Runaway) and The Rolling Stones are musicians who inspired her as a young guitarist. In the interview, The Rolling Stones come up a few times. Samantha thinks The Stones' 1971 album Sticky Fingers is one of the best albums ever and, as a blues guitarist, she was very inspired by Keith Richards' riffs. This July, Samantha Fish got to open for The Stones twice during their U.S. Hackney Diamonds tour.

Many of Samantha Fish's albums have blues rock as their foundation. That includes her latest album, Death Wish Blues, which she recorded with Jesse Dayton. “Modern blues with an edgy edge. We challenged each other,” she says in the interview.

Her music is often labeled blues, but she proves her versatility by incorporating influences from rock, country, funk, pop and bluegrass into her music. Fish's strength is that, as a musician, she consciously seeks to cross the boundaries of the blues. Not just blues rock, but also the so-called North Mississippi blues of R.L. Burnside, whose song Poor Black Mattie she includes on her 2017 Belle Of The West album. Our interview also reveals Samantha Fish's great love for blues pioneer Charlie Patton.

Interview by music journalist Peter Schavemaker.