Mercury Prize nominated folk singer, writer, conservationist, song collector, award-winning promoter, broadcaster and activist
Sam Lee plays a unique role in the British music scene. A highly inventive and original singer, folk song interpreter, passionate conservationist, song collector and successful creator of live events. Alongside his organisation, The Nest Collective, Sam has shaken up the music scene breaking boundaries between folk and contemporary music and the assumed places and ways folksong is appreciated. Sam’s helped develop its ecosystem inviting in a new listenership interrogating what the messages in these old songs hold for us today. With his latest critically acclaimed album, Old Wow, he’s summonsed up a truly compelling and emotional album that takes his work to yet another level. Likewise in 2021, Sam releases his debut novel ‘The Nightingale, notes on a songbird‘ telling the epic tale of this highly endangered bird and their place in culture folklore, folksong, music and literature throughout the millennia.
Reek Roon: A Campfire2009
The last novel by my mentor and teacher Stanley Robertson and a wonderful telling of tales around the Traveller Campfires. One story sees ‘Lee Samuel’ as the protagonist befriending the Late Jeannie Robertson. You can find out more about Stanley and his work from the Song Collectors’ Collective page about him.
The Nightingale (Hardback)2021
Come to the forest, sit by the fireside and listen to intoxicating song, as Sam Lee tells the story of the nightingale. A detailed and timeless biography of this now rare yet culturally most significant bird. Released in 2021 my first full length non fiction book tells the many ancient tales of this most universal and powerful bird throughout history and cultures.
The Fade In Time2015
Sam's Songlines Awards 2016 Winning 2nd album takes a 21st Century view on Folk traditions from the UK and around the world, re-imagining the British folk tradition through the eyes of the wider world. The music takes a path from Gypsy Traveller songs, through Japanese court music to wedding marches from Tajikistan - a truly global journey, with English folk song at its heart.
Ground Of Its Own2012
Sam's Mercury Award nominated 2012 debut album is a work several years in conception which brought together a multitude of experiences and influences for a musician who has cut an unique course in his artistic development. This 8-track release comprises material gleaned from years of research and exploration into the forgotten songs and sounds of the British Isles