Sam Fender

Placidcasual79

I really dont think I appreciated this guy at all..... I've been digging around his stuff for a few days now. The music is a little middle of the road for me..... but he's young and his songwriting is seriously sharp. Now I've looked at the lyrics some of these songs are really very brave..... It's pleasing to know there is someone of his generation not afraid to be vulnerable and tell his truth. 

Fair play. 

ArchtopDave

I too was slow to start listening to him, but really like both Albums. there's some good honest stories in the lyrics of the songs.

 My only recent worry is that I didn't think he looked that healthy at his recent Leeds festival gig (watched on iPlayer).

Placidcasual79

ArchtopDave said:

I too was slow to start listening to him, but really like both Albums. there's some good honest stories in the lyrics of the songs.

 My only recent worry is that I didn't think he looked that healthy at his recent Leeds festival gig (watched on iPlayer).

Really? In what way?  He seems like a sensitive soul so maybe more vulnerable to mental health issues or self medicating....

In fact I am sure I head on the radio he took a bit of time off recently to look after his mental health...... 

darthed1981

It's terrible the pressure kids in music are under these days.

A tour not making money could easily be enough to push them seriously into the red with their rapacious labels.

Sam seems to love making music and being onstage, but he's expected to be responsible for Sam Fender Ltd as well.

Danny1969

He's got some great tunes. I'm not a massive fan of his voice. We have 17 going under, Will we talk, Hypersonic missiles and Saturday in the set list ...these are pretty popular. 
His tuning is a bit strange, maybe C# rather than so we move keys a bit. 17 going under is a good capo riff

stufisher

I warmed to Sam Fender when I watched this docu about Alan Hull 



His working class roots shine bright and he comes across very well IMHO. He does a version of Winter Song which I rate and I think he gets under the skin of what 'the honest man in the street' values from music and working class heroes 

Thumbs up from me and I reckon he'll improve with age  

Whitecat

Placidcasual79 said:

ArchtopDave said:

I too was slow to start listening to him, but really like both Albums. there's some good honest stories in the lyrics of the songs.

 My only recent worry is that I didn't think he looked that healthy at his recent Leeds festival gig (watched on iPlayer).

Really? In what way?  He seems like a sensitive soul so maybe more vulnerable to mental health issues or self medicating....

In fact I am sure I head on the radio he took a bit of time off recently to look after his mental health...... 

He's got ADHD and also apparently some immune system issues... but yes, he has cancelled gigs before to look after himself...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/12/sam-fender-cancels-shows-tour-dates-mental-health

Placidcasual79

Whitecat said:

Placidcasual79 said:

ArchtopDave said:

I too was slow to start listening to him, but really like both Albums. there's some good honest stories in the lyrics of the songs.

 My only recent worry is that I didn't think he looked that healthy at his recent Leeds festival gig (watched on iPlayer).

Really? In what way?  He seems like a sensitive soul so maybe more vulnerable to mental health issues or self medicating....

In fact I am sure I head on the radio he took a bit of time off recently to look after his mental health...... 

He's got ADHD and also apparently some immune system issues... but yes, he has cancelled gigs before to look after himself...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/12/sam-fender-cancels-shows-tour-dates-mental-health

Yeah - since I posted that I found he was seriously ill with some sort immune system illness.... he said it was life threatening. I didn't know about the ADHD. It's good to know he was able to take a break to look after his mental health...... I hope it wasn't a struggle for him. to get the time he needed or that he wasn't pressured to return...... I watched that Lewis Capaldi documentary. Did you see it? It was utterly heartbreaking..... you could see being "famous" was killing Lewis but there were people who wanted to keep the cash cow rolling.... plus he seemed to feel his only value was as a musician who could make money...... hard when what you've always wanted turns out to be a nightmare. 

darthed1981

Yeah Lewis consistently seems a lovely guy

Record labels = Cunts

Placidcasual79

darthed1981 said:

Yeah Lewis consistently seems a lovely guy

Record labels = Cunts

Hard to argue with that @darthed1981 ; 

I found that documentary really sad.... I really wanted him to just walk away from it all and. write songs purely for himself