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New Orleans Meets Philly: Sam Doores, Mr Sam & The People People, Gina Leslie and Alex Barkats
June 19 at 8:00 pm-11:00 pm
$15.00
Tickets $15
doors open at 7:30
Sam Doores of The Deslondes
Sam Doores cut his teeth as a Bay Area-born teen troubadour busking around the U.S. before he got his first real break with a steady gig at an Irish pub in New Orleans. In that same city he co-created some of the last decade’s most arresting socially-conscious anthems with Hurray for the Riff Raff and made sparkling folk- and country-derived excursions with his own band, The Deslondes. In 2020 he released his first self-titled album, recorded primarily in Berlin and filled with echoes of everything from Tin Pan Alley to the Mississippi hill country, from French Quarter jazz to California psychedelic-folk-rock.
Looking back over 20 years of music making there is an obvious thread visible to those who know him. He brings people together. Not only has he brought together countless audiences, he also is a behind-the-scenes networker. Sam had the vision to charm varies members of the soon-to-be Deslondes to move to New Orleans to make music with him. Little did they know that those calls would lead to a 10 + year career of a band that is now a days stronger than ever. He has and continues to bring together countless musicians, engineers, and producers with his ability to see when various talents and skills would lead to brilliant collaborations. He is also the host of a monthly songwriter series titled For the Sake of The Song in New Orleans that features a wide range of legendary locals, touring acts, emerging artists, and new folks on the scene within the singer-songwriter show case. Lifting up others with his musical curation and vision is just one of the many things Sam Doores quietly does for his thriving musical community.
Presently producing his first full-length album for Sabine McCalla, Sam Doores is stepping in to his stride. In the producer role his calm presence, creative ideas, and ability to deeply listen all blend to foster a supportive environment for those he works with. After a decade of long tours, he feels right at home behind the control board and alongside a musician in the studio working out a part.
Moving forward, look to have Sam Doores continue to rotate from solo act to band lead singer to drummer to producer to promoter to friend, to family man, to musical history buff. The tread of passion for his community and making quality music runs through them all.
Sam Doores Social:
https://www.samdooresmusic.com/
Mr Sam and The People People
Standing beside the emerging songwriting voices of the Pacific Northwest and of the New Orleans americana scene, Mr. Sam has carved his own corner of the genre. His writing focuses on the joys and virtues of living and loving, but not without recognizing the endurance and patience that is required to find it in an unforgiving world. On his sophomore album “Again! Again!,” Mr. Sam plays freely with this duality and what paths lie between – a shoulder to cry on, a cannonball on a hot summer day, the unknown warmth of a stranger.
Drawing influence from classic singer-songwriters and New Orleans R&B greats, he has also become a student of his contemporaries through his close collaborations with Dean Johnson, The Sons of Rainier, Sam Doores, Chris Acker, to name a few. Citing them as his biggest influences as a writer, Mr. Sam says “There is no better lesson in writing than to write, but the next best thing is to be there to hear the moment when a song becomes itself.”
Guided by his sometimes soothing, sometimes raucous baritone, Mr. Sam leads The People People in a lively, electrifying dance hall sound while maintaining an intimacy fit for a long late night drive. Recorded live to tape in the summer of 2023 on the shores of the Puget Sound at Unknown Studios in Anacortes, Washington, Mr. Sam & The People People have crafted an analog concoction of rousing vocal arrangements, bouncing pianos, razor sharp steel guitar, and grooving percussion all in service of the sounds of togetherness.
“Again! Again!” feels, all in all, akin to a long phone call with an old friend. A conversation where “how are you?” is more than a formality. Devin Champlin, songwriter for The Sons of Rainier and Mr. Sam’s longtime friend and collaborator offers this –
“On Again! Again! Mr Sam’s inner voice is out for all to hear, and it’s part pregame coach pep-talker, part puppy lover, part late night host, and all delivered with such playful care and loving sincerity, that I’m inclined to believe him. He’s lending us his own kind reminders that we’re OK, we’re going through it, and we’re not alone […] Sam can turn guilt to kindness, get to know all the strangers, watch the stars and cry, knock on wood, and twirl his tail all he wants, but I don’t believe he’s getting out of this monkey business for one minute.”
Mr Sam and The People People Social:
https://www.itsmrsam.com/about
Gina Leslie
Gina Leslie sounds like what it feels like to have your head against the window of a Greyhound bus pulling away from a city where you and your sweetheart just broke up. And it’s raining. “ – Guy at the bar
With a spellbinding voice and tender insightful songwriting, New Oleans-based Gina Leslie has established herself as a budding artist to watch with her February 11 release, No You’re Crying. Born into a musical family in Colorado, she spent the better part of her formative years barefoot at bluegrass festivals, fiddle camps, and crowded family jams. After years of honing her voice as an artist and songwriter, Leslie now gives us No, You’re Crying, her debut solo release, recorded over the past two years of isolation. The songs came to life in the hot attic of a bright yellow house in New Orleans, and they capture a time and place of heartbreak and solitude. It’s everything a good breakup album should have– rootlessness and longing, an acceptance of life’s sadness, with a yearning to find happiness– but like anything worth its weight, more than the sum of its sorrows.
Floating between country and jazz, blending a melancholic jubilee that sinks its teeth into your heart, No, You’re Crying asks you to think about heartbreak as more than a lament for what you’ve lost, or a memory of what you miss. As Gina puts it on “I See You Everywhere I Go,” true heartbreak is love and loss together, the pain of knowing you have to let go before you do, “holding on to what’s already gone.” The first single, “Little Company” is the EP’s high point of hopefulness, a song written on a lonely birthday when the company of even a mosquito is welcome. The EP rounds out with the epic ballad “How Many Waltzes is Too Many Waltzes”, an ode to Louisiana and love lost along the way. The songs weave together sounds of pedal steel, fiddles, organ, clarinet and luscious harmonies to envelop the ears in waves of feelings, and entice the listener to dim the lights and pour a glass of smooth liquor.
With most of her life devoted to playing everything from bluegrass to folk to jazz, she’s absorbed a huge swath of American music and made it her own. Leslie is also well known as a side musician, recording and performing with countless artists in New Orleans and beyond – The Sam Doores Band, Esther Rose, Ric Robertson, and her family band, The Bad Bad Leslies. Above all, what strikes you about Leslie’s original music is the way it makes you feel—a delicate world between happy and sad. Indeed, this project arrives just in time to be the broken-hearted Valentine’s Day release.
Alek Barkats
Alek Barkats is a singer-songwriter, pianist, and multi instrumentalist residing in Philadelphia, PA. He released his debut album, Dinosaur, in 2019. “There are ethereal moods leading to quirky moments that seem like a smorgasbord of sound, literally. Barkats music seems to me to be a hybrid of Tom Waits, They Might Be Giants and a circus.” In 2023, after years of playing and recording music in Oakland, CA, Alek moved to Philadelphia, where he finished recording his upcoming album. Here we are in the garden arrives July 19th via Ghost Mountain Records.
Alek Barkat’s Social:
https://www.alekbarkats.com/