Bright Sunny South

And now for something completely and compellingly different. Sam Amidon is an extraordinarily creative musician, a London-based Vermont native and the son of accomplished amateur folk musicians. For his Nonesuch debut Bright Sunny South, Amidon has transformed an eclectic gathering of hymns, blues, ballads and folk tunes – including a shape-note song from the 1855 edition of The Southern Harmony, a traditional arrangement borrowed from Dock Boggs – into a singularly expressive songbook.

A helping of Pentangle-era Jansch & Renbourn (‘Bright Sunny South’) is mixed with a hearty tablespoon of atmospheric jazz (‘I Wish I Wish’), a dash of crunchy ambient guitar effects (‘He’s Taken My Feet’) and a pinch of authentic Appalachian hollering (‘As I Roved Out’). Providing the perfect binding for Amidon’s novel adventures is Jerry Boys, a legendary English engineer whose resumé runs the gamut from Maddy Prior and Sandy Denny to Buena Vista Social Club. Accompanied by childhood chum Thomas Bartlett (on piano, Hammond organ, synth and guitar), Shahzad Ismaily (guitars, bass and percussion) and Chris Vatalaro (drums, percussion and flute), with jazz trumpeter Kenny Wheeler guesting on two tracks, Amidon has created an intensely personal yet wholly approachable electroacoustic soundscape.