Samantha Fish is not one to remain stagnant.

Breaking onto the scene as part of the trio Girls With Guitars, Fish went on to win Best New Artist Debut for her 2011 solo album Runaway. Over the course of eight albums, she’s redefined her sound and tallied five No. 1 records on Billboard’s Blues chart, the latest being her collaboration with Jesse Dayton, Death Wish Blues.

The pair are touring in support of the album, stopping by Sweetwater Performance Pavilion on Sunday, July 30, with opening act Eric Johanson.

“The shows have really been powerful,” Fish told Whatzup. “It’s definitely a different experience from my solo band, but I can see people are digging it. I can see they like the new songs. They’re dancing to ’em. We put together a real fun show that’s engaging. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.”

Joining forces

The pairing of the two goes back many years when a 20-year-old Fish would catch Dayton when he’d perform at Knuckleheads Saloon in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.

“He used to play at a club I played at when I was real young,” she said. “He was kind of a darling there. So, I knew of him. I followed him like everyone follows someone now, on Instagram. I grew to be a fan. His solo career is amazing, but also just the people he’s backed up.

“He’s backed up everyone from Waylon Jennings to Danzig,” she said. “That’s pretty cool, he’s a versatile artist, but he’s also written a book. He’s an accomplished director and has his foot in the door for cinema. I like someone who has that kind of hustle.”

Well aware of his accolades, Fish caught a show of his in New Orleans, and the seed for Death Wish Blues was planted.

“Prior to us seeing him, my manager and I had been discussing a project like this for a couple of years, just like a duet thing: Something that would be a little different and have a certain edge and aesthetic that was different from my band,” Fish said. “When I saw Jesse, he checked all the boxes.”

After the two put out the three-song EP Stardust Sessions, Death Wish Blues was recorded over 10 days at Applehead Recording & Production in Woodstock, New York, with producer Jon Spencer. According to Fish’s website, what was recorded was a “bold collision of blues, soul, punk, funk, and fantastically greasy rock-and-roll.”

Blending genres comes natural to Fish. While many may frown on steering out of the blues lane, she’s swerving all over the road.

“I just try to make stuff that sounds good to me,” she said. “I try to make songs that are catchy. I try to incorporate riffs that feel good to me. I try to keep some influences from the blues in my playing, but the sonic quality of a recording and how an album takes shape, it’s all about that moment in the room with the musicians with you.”

Breaking tradition

As Fish said, blues are her foundation, but she’s not afraid to add influences from across the musical spectrum. While that might not sit well with purists, she tries to not concern herself with naysayers.

“You have to allow a genre room to breathe,” she said. “Otherwise, it’s just going to choke out. It will cease to exist. It will live in the past. 

“I can’t mimic Howlin’ Wolf better than Howlin’ Wolf can do Howlin’ Wolf. For me to try to recreate something that’s been done … it’s been done and been done better than I can recreate. It’s my job as an artist to find my voice and do something unique that connects with people. For me, I’m inspired by blues, but it’s not the only thing that inspires me.”

With Death Wish Blues, she and Dayton let the music lead the way … not the genre.

“We’re making art,” she said. “Someone will say they didn’t like my new record or they liked a record from before. I’ll say, ‘Well, stick around for the next one, maybe you’ll like that.’ People get so angry sometimes about their favorite artist doing something that’s not totally to their taste. I say, ‘It’s fine. You know this is supposed to be fun, right?’ ”

“I know the record store doesn’t know which bin to put the record in anymore. I think we have to relax on the genre lines a little bit. Things are going to get bigger and blurrier the longer we keep making music. I mean, Jesus, there’s only 12 notes to work with anyway.”

Getting on the map

Growing up behind the drum kit, Fish didn’t actually start playing guitar until she was 15. However, she didn’t waste much time, releasing her first record, Live Bait, in 2009. Recorded with The Samantha Fish Band, you might find it tough to find that album.

“It’s kind of absurd to think about it,” she said of that record. “I hear that record every once in a while and think, ‘Uck.’

“I got rid of that one. It was a bootleg from start to finish, to be honest.”

That album did put her on Thomas Ruf’s radar. The man behind Ruf Records teamed her up with Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde for Girls With Guitars. While recording their 2011 album, Fish caught an even bigger break from Ruf.

“While I was in the studio making that record, Thomas asked me, ‘Do you want a record deal?’ It was kind of scary making that jump,” Fish said. “It was the first contract I had really signed other than a little performance agreement. It was a little scary, but I had a long, positive relationship with Thomas.”

Runaway was released in 2011 and she won Best New Artist Debut for it from the Blues Music Awards.

That record was followed by Black Wind Howlin’, but it was on 2015’s Wild Heart that she really began to gain confidence in her art.

“Wild Heart was big turning point for me,” she said of her first album to reach No. 1 on the Blues chart. “It was the first time that I had collaborated on the writing side. I worked with a few different writers on that record, and I was really against it at first. You’re always worried that people are going to come in and you’re going to lose pieces of yourself. In reality, what I learned, is a good collaborating partner is going to amplify what you want to do, they’re going to listen. You’re also going to learn about their process. That helps you hone your skills. I love collaborating now.”

The album sparked a string of No. 1 albums that includes Belle of the West (2017), Kill or Be Kind (2019), Faster (2021), and Death Wish Blues. Chills & Fever also reached No. 3 in 2017.