Samantha Fish’s “Shake ‘em Down” tour hit Chicago’s House of Blues on Sunday, December 7th and this electrifying triple bill with headliner Fish, Cedric Burnside, and Jon Spencer proved to be the ideal way to shake off the malaise of a last-minute Bears loss and the early onslaught of a Chicago winter.
This marks the third year that Fish and friends have been shaking it down at venues across the country and this passion project is perfectly suited to Fish’s collaborative spirit, She recently wrapped up a “Gone Fishing” tour with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, did a run with Jesse Dayton to promote their Grammy-nominated Death Wish Blues, wielded her axe with the 2025 “Experience Hendrix” ensemble and even opened for the Rolling Stones at the final leg of their 2024 United States tour.
With all these partnerships (and many others too numerous to list) it’s obvious that Fish has established meaningful musical connections and thrives on performing live with her cohorts.
Although she’s yet to hit forty, Fish seems to have an old-school music mentality and a keen appreciation of blues history. She obviously loves playing in Chicago but with her heavy touring schedule, Fish’s appearances have become further and farther between. Her last Chicago area show was at FitzGerald’s American Music Fest back in July.
The American Music Fest is known for showcasing a variety of musical genres and the same can be said for the diverse blues acts that are part of the current “Shake ‘em On Down” Tour. Jon Spencer is one of the pioneers of “garage punk” blues and has fronted everyone from Pussy Galore and Boss Hog to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. He also produced Fish and Dayton’s Death Wish Blues album and is credited with helping RL Burnside find a broader audience thanks to their collaboration on An Ass Pocket of Whiskey in 1996.
Meanwhile, RL’s grandson Cedric has been doing his part to keep the Mississippi Hill Country sound alive and received a Grammy in 2022 for Best Traditional Blues Album for his I Be Trying. Young Cedric was playing drums with his granddad at the tender age of thirteen, so the roots of Hill Country blues run deep through his Delta DNA.
As for Fish, she recently released her ninth album, Paper Doll, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues album. Although Fish cut her teeth on the blues, her style has continued to evolve – and her songs from Paper Doll provide evidence of her maturation as a musician and her genre-bending style of play that’s an amalgam of rock, blues, roots and other influences.
Before Fish took the stage to play many well-received selections from Paper Doll, Spencer and Burnside each had time to shine. Spencer came out blazing with bassist Kendall Ward and Macky “Spider” Bowman on drums bolstering his big sound.Their set was a mash up of Mississippi Hill Country grooves, punk rock rhythms, spoken word lyrics, and some heavy garage rock riffs. Spencer wrapped it all up by throwing out a rant about the current state of the union while cajoling the crowd to “get it together” and “take care of each other.”
Following Spencer’s rants and punk-flavored rhythms came some “Hill Country Love” by way of Cedric Burnside. Like Spencer, Burnside shared the stage with a drummer (Joe Eagle) and bass player (Kody Harrell). But, while Spencer’s show bordered on the frenetic, Burnside went for a hypnotic stripped-down Hill Country sound. His set list included “We Made It,” “Toll on They Life,” and the RL Burnside standard “Poor Black Maddie.”
After Burnside’s left the stage, a large “Samantha Fish” banner was unfurled, which signaled her imminent entrance on the House of Blues stage. Clad in a form-fitting all-leather ensemble, Ms. Fish made her presence known immediately. But this “paper doll” is much more than eye candy as evidenced by a sizzling set list that included a heavy dose of songs from her latest album.
Fish utilized her live band for the very first time in the making of Paper Doll and this crew’s familiarity with the material made for a seamless show from start to finish. Fish’s band consists of Ron Johnson on bass, Jamie Douglas on drums, and keyboardist Mickey Flynn.
After ripping into live versions of her new “Paper Doll” and “I’m Done Running” to get the show rolling, she told the crowd that she was “going way back to 2021” and launched into “Better Be Lonely.” But Fish’s focus was on her new tunes with selections that ran the gamut from the slide heavy “Lose You” and the roof-raising “Rusty Razor” to stellar versions of “Don’t Say It” and “Sweet Southern Soul.”
Fish also cajoled the crowd into “testing your pipes” and singing along like it was a “mother f##cking Friday” instead of a Sunday school night. And it should be noted that Fish’s “pipes” were in fine working order. She easily segued from sweet serenades to full-throated laments depending on each song’s intent.
Fish concluded her triumphant turn on stage by taking it back to 2013 and giving it her all on “Black Wind Howling.” But before the crowd was sent out to face the notorious Chicago “Hawk,” it was time to take a southward turn. Burnside came back on to pair up with Fish on a fine rendition of RL’s “Goin’ Down South.”
While Fish and Burnside were busy exchanging vocals and deep Delta grooves, the stagehands were bringing all the drums and big guns out, signaling that the entire ensemble was ready to join in. This resulted in a finale for the ages – with one of the highlights being Spencer fake taunting Fish with fighting words like “what does a woman know about the blues?” Taking the bait head-on, Fish responded with a range of riffs that resounded into the night and sent everyone home on a high note.
