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HOT GIG TICKETS

SAM CARTER + Liam Bailey

Wed 9th Sep 2009

Playpen presents
SAM CARTER
+ Liam Bailey

Doors 7.30
Liam Bailey 8.00
Sam Carter 9.00

£6 on the door

'Clearly, to be able to play the guitar this well at such a young age means he's sold his soul at the crossroads and will shortly be having a cup of fire tea and a brimstone scone with Hitler.' - Allgigs.co.uk

A precocious young singer and guitarist from the English midlands, Sam Carter has spent the last few years busily honing his craft both as a writer and performer, studying guitar with Martin Simpson and touring with Bellowhead whilst holding down his post as Emerging Artist in Residence at London's Southbank Centre. Armed with a 'killer voice' (Nitin Sawhney) and the ability to play his guitar 'like a harp' (Time Out), the east London-based songsmith is now set to make his mark with his debut album 'Keepsakes'.

Picking up from where the intricate guitar and 'haunting' (Eliza Carthy) storytelling of his EP 'Here In The Ground' (released April '08 via Proper) left off, 'Keepsakes' is a collection of ten songs of rare depth and detail that belie their author's tender years. That's not to say that 'Keepsakes' doesn't pack a punch; Sam kicks the album into life with 'Yellow Sign' spitting a fiery tale of east end violence over breakneck and impossibly intricate fingerstyle guitar work.

Elsewhere is a striking rendering of 'Oh Dear, Rue The Day', a traditional folk song and tale of romantic deceit and bitterness. Drums and acoustic bass pound as Sam's visceral vocal sets the scene and is matched in its intensity by support from Bellowhead's prodigious young fiddler Sam Sweeney. The album closes in a headily reflective vein with 'Spill Those Secrets', a beautiful and heart-rendingly fragile song where Sam's tender voice and guitar are ushered towards the album's final climactic moment by cello and piano:

'Spill those secrets one at a time, come the morning they'll be with mine'.

This final lyric features in the carefully crafted album artwork accompanied by a series of images of curious objects. At Sam's request, fans sent him their very own keepsakes along with a note revealing their personal significance. The keepsakes were then photographed by the D&AD (British Design and Art Direction) award-winning Thom Atkinson ensuring that the audio and visual elements of the album work beautifully in tandem making the experience like opening a shoebox full of your own treasured objects: haunting, humbling, uplifting.

Supporting Sam will be Liam Bailey. As the singer with The Accidental and The Memory Band, Liam fuses soul, reggae and blues to deliver incredible songs with a stunningly powerful and sensitive voice. His highly-anticipated debut album will be released through Polydor next year.

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