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Sam Friend

The Long, Lonesome Road

Sam Friend, 28, is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, banjoist, composer, arranger, and bandleader known for his command of the blues, rock, funk, and traditional jazz. Based in New Orleans and hailing from New Rochelle, N.Y., he interned at Jazz at Lincoln Center and received a degree in musical composition from Amherst College, composing and performing a 40-minute jazz suite, “The One of Us,” for 40 musicians, including big-band, nonet, and acapella.

In 2012, Friend co-founded the New Orleans Swamp Donkeys Traditional Jass Band with trumpet player and vocalist James Williams, also featuring Wes Anderson IV (Quad) on Tuba, Jon Ramm on Trombone, and Joshua "Jams" Marotta on Drums. The band gained renown at the NOLA JazzFest and at jazz festivals around the world, including North Sea, Ascona, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Le Sporting Monte-Carlo, and the Edinburgh Blues and Jazz Festival. The band has released two albums ("Swamp Donkey," "Donkey Business"), sold out New York's Blue Note and B.B. King's, and created a viral "Game of Thrones" video, which has drawn over 1 million viewers. The band frequently tours throughout the US and abroad.

During the summer of 2014, Friend was a guest on Michael Feinstein’s NPR program, “Song Travels.” His compositions have graced NCIS: New Orleans, CBS’s “The Early Show,” and VanityFair.com. Friend has toured with Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and he has played and recorded with Trombone Shorty, James "12" Andrews, the Treme Brass Band, the late Travis "Trumpet Black" Hill, among a variety of other local talents. You can find him sharing the stage with a plethora of revered musicians throughout New Orleans and New York.

In March of 2016, Sam Friend began an original project entitled “Twin” in honor of his twin sister who passed in October of 2015. This album of new music was recorded at the Parlor Studio in New Orleans, with New Orleans greats Chris Severin on Bass, Geoff Clapp on Drums, and Beck Burger on Wurlitzer, Rhodes and Organ. The album, Twin, was released in December of 2016.

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9
Album Review

Sam Friend: Twin

Read "Twin" reviewed by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton


It's probably not best practice to liken anyone to anyone, yet we do it all the time, take comfort in the left hand column on CD Baby, or the recommends on iTunes or Amazon. Forgive this Captain Obvious then, when Sam Friend's album Twin gets likened to James Taylor and his son, Ben Taylor here, so a bookmark can be left. A few more souls around like the family Taylor is no bad thing. And what the hell, “You've got ...

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7

Recording

Singer-Songwriter Sam Friend New Release "Twin"

Singer-Songwriter Sam Friend New Release "Twin"

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

The acclaimed singer-songwriter Sam Friend lost his twin sister, Molly, in 2015. In her honor, he has just released his first full- length solo album, Twin. Friend, 28, was born in New York and moved to jny: New Orleans in 2012, where he co-founded the The New Orleans Swamp Donkeys, which has performed at leading jazz festivals and clubs throughout Europe and America. A composer and guitarist, Friend was recently profiled for an hour on NPR by Michael Feinstein on ...

NPR Song Travels with Michael Feinstein http://www.npr.org/2014/08/01/337138177/sam-friend-on-song-travels

New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/events/jazz/new-orleans-swamp-donkeys-19533.html?smid=pl-share

“Insists Sam Friend, a 27-year-old New Orleans-based composer and bandleader: ‘The idea of jazz being niche is just a phase. Jazz started out as pop-music for the many, not just the few. And judging by the energy and size of the jazz crowds today, who’s to say we can’t make it pop again.’ ”

— Will Friedwald

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Twins

Self Produced
2017

buy

Twin

Self Produced
2017

buy

Rhythm Or Rhyme

From: Twin
By Sam Friend

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