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I’ve written about Serious Sam Barrett a couple of times on this blog before,  here and here and will continue to do so because for me he is the most genuine folk singer the UK has to offer and has been for quite a while now. He’s kindly sent me his new album which is going to be out in the coming weeks (exact date to be confirmed soon) and i think it’s his best work to date.

At 31 years of age, i think Sam is at those crossroads in his life many of us are aware of when we pass thirty, realising we’re not kids anymore although in our hearts we still are, our heads are telling us we need to get serious (no pun intended). We start reminiscing about our childhoods and ex relationships, wondering what happened to those you don’t see anymore but at the same time trying to work out what the future may hold for yourself, are the dreams we had when we were young still possible or have they changed with the passage of time. Sam touches on all of these things on his brilliant, self-titled new album and boy, is he on fire! Drawing influence from early twentieth century folk, fifties rock ‘n roll and the punk era (if Sam was around in the mid to late seventies, he’d be a punk) he touches on the past, relationships and his dreams and does so in rip-roaring style.

Straight from the off  he is on breathtaking form as he sings a song for his grandfather who was a union man all his life and ‘never cared much for the law’ and is a fitting tribute to him and i think the perfect opener given that the album then goes on to have songs of reminisce, hopes and dreams. His guitar playing on this first track (and throughout the album) is really quite staggering, whether it’s at lightening speed like on this first track or a slower, waltz tempo like on the song Streetlights. I don’t know if it was a conscious decision to start with a song about the past given how the album then develops, but in my mind it’s Sam reminding us he knows who is is and where he’s from and how proud he is of that but then goes onto sing ‘Hennessy Nights’, a song about never been too old to go skateboarding and drink into the early morning with your mates. If the opening track was played in a more traditional style, then Hennessy Nights is a song that i could hear Joe Strummer singing! Then there’s ‘Streetlights’ which Sam wrote in the early hours of the morning while watching the snow fall from his window, dreaming of driving through Dixie with his brother, a place he’s been to a few times playing solo as well as with The Pine Hill Haints as well as others.

The saddest song on the album is ‘Kerosene’. Spilling his guts and pleading with the person in question to ‘stay away from those that hurt you and make you feel bad ’cause i worry more than you’ll ever know.’ I imagine being a musician and away on tour a lot, relationships suffer and  have to remain strong and trustworthy but there are bound to be moments of doubt and anguish and this is Sam attempting to deal with those things although i’m unsure if in this particular song  he knows something is already over?

The album then goes onto have tracks titled ’16 again’ and ‘Holding Out’. The former, a song about heartbreak and booze and the latter, his quest after a few failed relationships to find his true love who he’s going to make ‘feel like his queen’

Finishing off the album are probably my two favourite tracks on the album. The incredible Dreams and Long Gone. Dreams because it’s a song that is simply telling us he would love nothing better than playing and singing in a different bar every night of the week because ‘the road is long and he’s too far gone to live any other way’ and ‘dreams don’t chase themselves’. Long Gone, because it’s somewhere we’ve all been when we’re no longer with someone we once loved, trying to drink the pain away and find the answers in the bottom of the empty glass.

Having listened to the album a few times now, what comes across more than anything to me (and always has done really) is not very deep down, what a hopeless romantic Sam is. I don’t say that in a negative way, i think it’s a brilliant thing that he can expose his heart like he does when singing about a girl he misses or loves, or the joys of skateboarding with his mates, but also i hear what a dreamer he is and what he hopes to be doing for a long time to come. We all have dreams, right? Also, although some of the songs touch on subjects like failed relationships and heartbreak, they don’t have a negative slant, if anything Sam shows what a perfect gentleman he is by either wishing them them well or trying to find reason why they ended.He also sings about a lot of places in America, Tennessee, Alabama, all places he’s been on tour a few times now and clearly loves but he still often reminds us, he will always belong to his beloved Leeds.

People are always talking about the ‘real deal’ these days, in America right now, two folk singers you can definitely call that are, Malcolm Holcombe and Charlie Parr (who Sam supported last year and Charlie informed me he’s almost worn out the vinyl of Sam’s record, HIGH PRAISE INDEED!) In the UK the real deal is Serious Sam Barrett, they don’t come any more authentic.

No mp3 at this moment but hopefully be able to offer you one when the album is officially released. In the meantime, you can listen to a track here and also watch the  video below of ‘Henessesy Nights’. Follow Sam on his Facebook and website to be kept up to date with the album release date and gigs etc. Enjoy.

Serious Sam Barrett: Hennessy Nights from everslick on Vimeo.