Samantha Crain

In just two LPs and an EP, Samantha Crain is turning out to be a female equivalent of Richard Buckner for me. I got hooked on Ms. Crain's voice and folksy sensibilities upon the release of her 2007 EP, Confiscation. It's a little gem of a record in the vein of Jolie Holland and Buckner's first album, Bloomed. Crain's subsequent LP was a terrific example of revivalist Americana. Her new record, You (Understood), finds her navigating the revisionist terrritory of Buckner's later work (esp. Impasse), and thank god for it. She's always had a voice like a train, but here she straps on the electric guitar and lets her drummer loose, a la Jim White on his AMAZING collaboration with Nina Nastasia. The results are documentation of an artist helping to redefine what Americana means in the 21st century.

Samantha Crain - "Lions" - HearYa Live Session 7/16/10 from HearYa.com on Vimeo.