Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute to Harry Smith)

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Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

On the Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute to Harry Smith), Sam Amidon performs four songs from Anthology of American Folk Music, Smith’s beloved and influential 1920s and ’30s folk music recordings. Amidon and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily play all the instruments; Leo Abrahams engineered, produced, and mixed. "Harry Smith believed in the secret connections and mysteries that existed in culture," says Amidon, "whether it was the feeling of Thelonious Monk’s rhythmic phrasing; the patterns in string games and Ukrainian egg painting designs; the wild fiddle tunes; or the epic folk ballads."

Description

Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute to Harry Smith), a four-track 7” vinyl record from singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Amidon, is due November 15, 2019, on Nonesuch Records. Amidon first publicly performed the songs on this EP—all of which were on Smith’s beloved and influential Anthology of American Folk Music—for a concert commissioned by Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium, as part of its large-scale Anthology tribute. Fatal Flower Garden was recorded over two days in East London with Amidon and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily playing all the instruments; Leo Abrahams engineered, produced, and mixed. 

Amidon says: “Fatal Flower Garden is my tribute to the elusive spirit of Harry Smith and to his wondrous Anthology of American Folk Music. Harry Smith believed in the secret connections and mysteries that existed in culture ... whether it was the feeling of Thelonious Monk’s rhythmic phrasing; the patterns in string games and Ukrainian egg painting designs; the wild fiddle tunes; or the epic folk ballads. He understood American Folk Music to be a wildly heterogeneous category that included multiple cultural, racial, and linguistic elements.”

He continues, “I love listening through the Anthology for its window in to 1920s musical practices in all their varied glory, but also for the silent consciousness of Harry Smith behind the whole thing. You can picture him listening to the recordings, expounding his theories about the connections between them, and digging all of it.”

Fatal Flower Garden is Amidon’s fourth recording on Nonesuch and follows 2017’s The Following Mountain. He also was one of four singer/songwriter’s featured on Kronos Quartet’s 2017 Folk Songs for the label.

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Leo Abrahams
Engineered and mixed by Leo Abrahams
Recorded at Coronet Studios, London
Mastered by John Baldwin

Drawings by Sam Amidon
Design by Ben Tousley

Nonesuch Selection Number

604496

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Sam Amidon
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Sam Amidon, vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, electric guitar
Shahzad Ismaily, electric bass, acoustic and electronic percussion, electric guitar, piano, accordion
Leo Abrahams, piano

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
Vinyl 7" + MP3
UPC
075597923209
Label
MP3
Price
4.00
UPC
075597923254
Label
FLAC
Price
5.00
UPC
075597922813
  • Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute to Harry Smith)
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  • 604496

News & Reviews

  • The 2024 Big Ears Festival is next week, taking place in venues throughout downtown Knoxville, TN, March 21–24, with more than a dozen Nonesuch artists past, present, and future performing as part of the label's 60th anniversary celebrations. In addition to all of the music and film offerings, Big Ears also hosts a number of artist conversations with music journalists Ann Powers and Nate Chinen, including talks with Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Brad Mehldau, Davóne Tines, and Yasmin Williams.

  • Sam Amidon has announced a headline solo tour of the US this spring, following a North American tour as special guest of This Is the Kit and a weekend at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville. The new shows start in Northampton, Massachusetts, on March 26 and includes stops in New Hampshire, New York, California (with Sam Gendel), Oregon (with Laura Veirs), and Washington. The This Is the Kit tour starts in Brooklyn February 21.

  • About This Album

    Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute to Harry Smith), a four-track 7” vinyl record from singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Amidon, is due November 15, 2019, on Nonesuch Records. Amidon first publicly performed the songs on this EP—all of which were on Smith’s beloved and influential Anthology of American Folk Music—for a concert commissioned by Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium, as part of its large-scale Anthology tribute. Fatal Flower Garden was recorded over two days in East London with Amidon and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily playing all the instruments; Leo Abrahams engineered, produced, and mixed. 

    Amidon says: “Fatal Flower Garden is my tribute to the elusive spirit of Harry Smith and to his wondrous Anthology of American Folk Music. Harry Smith believed in the secret connections and mysteries that existed in culture ... whether it was the feeling of Thelonious Monk’s rhythmic phrasing; the patterns in string games and Ukrainian egg painting designs; the wild fiddle tunes; or the epic folk ballads. He understood American Folk Music to be a wildly heterogeneous category that included multiple cultural, racial, and linguistic elements.”

    He continues, “I love listening through the Anthology for its window in to 1920s musical practices in all their varied glory, but also for the silent consciousness of Harry Smith behind the whole thing. You can picture him listening to the recordings, expounding his theories about the connections between them, and digging all of it.”

    Fatal Flower Garden is Amidon’s fourth recording on Nonesuch and follows 2017’s The Following Mountain. He also was one of four singer/songwriter’s featured on Kronos Quartet’s 2017 Folk Songs for the label.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Sam Amidon, vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, electric guitar
    Shahzad Ismaily, electric bass, acoustic and electronic percussion, electric guitar, piano, accordion
    Leo Abrahams, piano

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Leo Abrahams
    Engineered and mixed by Leo Abrahams
    Recorded at Coronet Studios, London
    Mastered by John Baldwin

    Drawings by Sam Amidon
    Design by Ben Tousley