A dream come true for a certain Scotsman from Edinburgh. Years after I crossed the Atlantic and met the banjo-busking, ballad-belting, Guinness enjoying Sam Shackleton, he did the reverse journey and came to visit his long lost kinsmen in Kentucky. Very appropriate, as many people of Scots-Irish decent, very likely including Mr. Benjamin Tod's ancestors, made that journey themselves, in search of a better life. So I thought, what a great pairing to make, let's see how the folk songs in Scotland, those which Mr. Shackleton is quite versed in, compare to the ones in the American South, the likes of which Benjamin Tod knows. It just so happened to line up when Jason Dae West was in town ( • Benjamin Tod and Jason... ) as well, and the three of them played by campfire all night long, pickin strangely familiar yet alien songs, old folk tunes twisted by time and space but all from a similar origin. It was funny watching these so very different people connect over a shared love of folk music, and maybe realizing they're not so different after all, none of us are.
Anyhow, Sam enjoyed these great American states. This was right after an eventful Americanafest in Nashville, where he got to play to a packed crowd and meet many other Gems and stars. I hope it lived up to his expectations, and though i'll never be able to repay his kindness for letting me explore Scotland with him from his flat in Edinburgh, hopefully days shooting guns, grilling corn and playing Chivalry 2 on my couch in Smithville was fun for him.
You can find Sam's tunes on all platforms at www.samshackleton.com/music. You can find him on Instagram at @sorleythebard.
Our undying love and gratitude go to our executive producers for making this project possible: Brad Sirois, Mitchell Davis, Keith McQuillan, David Jameson, Lisa Galvan, Irvin Maddox, Josh Collins, Brady Jones, Julie Nestoroff, VJ Arizpe, Mr. Free, Rusty Shackleford, and Joshua Taylor.
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GemsOnVHS is a long running series of intimate, off-stage performances by songwriters we love.
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