Sam was born in Nottingham in 1989, and first picked up a fiddle in 1996. Having had lessons at school from the age of six, he went on to win the Wiltshire Folk Association Young Folk Award (which he won again the following year) and the In The Tradition Award at the the age of eleven. Sam's career started shortly after, performing as a soloist at Chippenham, Trowbridge and Devizes festivals in 2001. The year after Sam founded Kerfuffle, which ended in 2010 after five albums and a very successful eight years of gigging.
More recently, Sam joined the eleven piece folk big band Bellowhead, plays fiddle, drums with Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings and plays fiddle withThe Fay Hield Trio. Sam also plays fiddle and viola in a duo with Hannah James.
Aside from touring, Sam has made a number of television appearances including Later... with Jools with Bellowhead, and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway with John Spiers and Stephen Gately. In 2007 Sam was awarded one of five BBC Performing Arts Fund bursaries to aid him in launching his career as a musician. The bursary funded educational trips to Norway, Finland and Lithuania as well as paying for new instruments and tuition.
More recently, Sam joined the eleven piece folk big band Bellowhead, plays fiddle, drums with Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings and plays fiddle withThe Fay Hield Trio. Sam also plays fiddle and viola in a duo with Hannah James.
Aside from touring, Sam has made a number of television appearances including Later... with Jools with Bellowhead, and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway with John Spiers and Stephen Gately. In 2007 Sam was awarded one of five BBC Performing Arts Fund bursaries to aid him in launching his career as a musician. The bursary funded educational trips to Norway, Finland and Lithuania as well as paying for new instruments and tuition.
For more information on specific bands, click the links below.
Bellowhead
Bellowhead
In between the projects listed above, Sam has been busy working on a new venture with producer Andy Bell, called WeRecordYourStrings. It aims to enable artists to add string arrangements to their recordings in a quick and affordable way. Recent projects include albums by Circus Envy, Louise Jordan and Rosie Doonan, among others.
As a session player, Sam has recorded fiddle for a number of artists including Spiers and Boden, Rachael McShane, Sam Carter and Fay Hield.
In recent months Sam has been very busy with a number of new projects. Along with fellow Bellowhead member Paul Sartin, he has been asked to arrange the music for a new production of The Transports, Peter Bellamy's famous ballad opera, which will be debuted at Sidmouth Folk Festival 2011 with a subsequent tour in 2012. Sam recently played a gig with Andy Cutting at Kings Place, London. Sam and Hannah are also hard at work arranging and recording their next album which is due for release later this year.
Recent awards and nominations include two BBC Folk Awards in 2011 with Bellowhead, a Hancock Award for Musician Of The Year and a nomination for Spiral Earth’s Musician Of The Year.
As a session player, Sam has recorded fiddle for a number of artists including Spiers and Boden, Rachael McShane, Sam Carter and Fay Hield.
In recent months Sam has been very busy with a number of new projects. Along with fellow Bellowhead member Paul Sartin, he has been asked to arrange the music for a new production of The Transports, Peter Bellamy's famous ballad opera, which will be debuted at Sidmouth Folk Festival 2011 with a subsequent tour in 2012. Sam recently played a gig with Andy Cutting at Kings Place, London. Sam and Hannah are also hard at work arranging and recording their next album which is due for release later this year.
Recent awards and nominations include two BBC Folk Awards in 2011 with Bellowhead, a Hancock Award for Musician Of The Year and a nomination for Spiral Earth’s Musician Of The Year.
Hungry Horse Folk Club, 2010
© Drew Forsyth Photography