Album review: SAMANTHA FISH – Paper Doll Live

SAMANTHA FISH -Paper Doll Live

Rounder Records [Release date 12.06.26]

Move over Live And Dangerous, and Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out there is a new contender for best live album ever, and it comes in the form of a female resident of Kansas City, Samantha Fish.

Raw raucous and febrile, this collection of sixteen live songs hits you where it hurts. From the opening bombastic chords of MC5′s ‘Kick Out The Jams’, you know you’re on a rock n roll roller coaster ride, courtesy of a lady lover of the blues. But she has gone way beyond the blues and is now a full on rock chick, leather catsuits and all.

Having said that one of my favourite cuts on the album is blues number ‘Bullet Proof’, and she finishes on ‘Black Wind Howlin” another blues tune and throws in Screamin’ Jay Hawkins ‘I Put A Spell One You’, and ‘Poor Maddie’, but the rest of the songs have a keen rock edge, a couple even having a punky vibe to them.

As the title suggests a lot of the tracks are from the studio album Paper Doll, which saw the transition to a more rockier flavour, but damn I do love it when she plays her cigar box guitar, and plucks and slides those those dirty blues notes from it.

This is Samantha Fish at her searing best with a band which is on fire. Recorded at the historic Knoxville Bijou Theatre, and featuring Nashville gospel legends The McCrary Sisters, the album doesn’t let up from start to finish which is what her live performances are like. She has honed her craft to perfection and delivers this Paper Doll Live like a sucker punch to the gut.

If you missed her on her last tour, get this album: it’s the next best thing. *****

Review by Andy Sharrocks

Gig review (March 2026)

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Power Plays w/c 8 June 2026

LAKE Hey Sam (indie)
VOODOO WISEGUYS Someday You’ll Know (indie)
RUN REMEDY Big Nothing (indie)
BLACK ROSE REBELLION Hail The Rebel Queen (Pavement Entertainment)
DOMINUM Dark Melodies (Napalm Records)
COLD JULY I’ll Write That Down (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 8 June 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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