Samantha Fish Interview – Half Pint Julie Lowry Talks Paper Doll, The Stones & The Power of Live Music

20 February 2026 rocknews

Samantha Fish Interview. There are some interviews you prepare for… and then there are the ones that genuinely mean something.

Speaking to Samantha Fish ahead of her 2026 UK “Paper Doll” tour was one of those moments for me.

Tonight, you can hear the full Samantha Fish interview broadcast live on The Rock Show on Marlow FM 97.5 between 7–9PM. Just tell your smart speaker to “Play Marlow FM 97.5” or download the station app and join us. I’ll also be embedding the full interview right here in this article so you can listen back.

And trust me — you’re going to want to.

In our interview, Samantha Fish spoke about recording Paper Doll with her road band and how that chemistry shaped a more instinctive, live feel in the studio, unpacked the defiance and identity woven into the title track, and reflected on the push and pull between life on the road and personal relationships inspired by “Sweet Southern Sounds.”

She revisited the emotional journey behind “I’m Done Running,” discussed the wide spectrum of influences that inform her songwriting — from Prince and Leonard Cohen to Black Sabbath and Mississippi Hill Country blues — and shared what it was like opening for The Rolling Stones on their final 2024 US tour date.

We also touched on what a Grammy nomination means at this stage of her career, what fans can expect from the 2026 UK “Paper Doll” tour, what she hopes audiences take away from her live shows, and the one word she chose to define the tour ahead.

Samantha Fish Interview

Samantha Fish brings the Paper Doll tour to the UK in 2026, promising the same fire, finesse and fearless honesty that defines the record. If her live reputation is anything to go by — and it absolutely is — these shows won’t just be concerts, they’ll be full-blooded, soul-shaking experiences. Expect blistering guitar work, emotional depth, and a band locked in tight behind one of the most compelling performers in modern blues-rock. Tickets won’t hang around, so move fast — this is a tour that demands to be seen, not just heard.

SAMANTHA FISH INTERVIEW – TOUR DATES

FEBRUARY & MARCH 2026
“PAPER DOLL” UK TOUR

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS:
THE ZAC SCHULZE GANG

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM

www.alttickets.com/samantha-fish-tickets [15]
https://samanthafish.com/#tour [16] www.thequeenshall.net [17]

York, Barbican
Friday 27 February 2026
Tickets: alttickets.com [18]
www.yorkbarbican.co.uk [19]

London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Saturday 28 February 2026
Tickets: alttickets.com [20]
www.academymusicgroup.com/o2shepherdsbushempire [21]

Bristol, O2 Academy
Sunday 1 March 2026
Tickets: alttickets.com [22]
www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybristol [23]

Birmingham Town Hall
Tuesday 3 March 2026
Tickets: alttickets.com [24]
https://bmusic.co.uk [25]

Manchester, O2 Ritz
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Tickets: alttickets.com [26]
www.academymusicgroup.com/o2ritzmanchester [27]

Newcastle, Wylam Brewery
Thursday 5 March 2026
Tickets: alttickets.com [28]
www.wylambrewery.co.uk/events [29]

Edinburgh Queen’s Hall
Friday 6 March 2026
Tickets: thequeenshall.net [30]
www.thequeenshall.net [31]

Nottingham, Rock City
Saturday 7 March 2026
Tickets: alttickets.com [32]
www.rock-city.co.uk [33]

Samantha was Grammy-nominated for “Contemporary Blues Album of the Year” for her collaboration with Jesse Dayton on Death Wish Blues. Total Guitar voted Samantha as one of the “Top 100 Greatest Blues Guitarists” of all-time. In 2024, she joined Slash on his S.E.R.P.E.N.T. US tour.

After launching her recording career in 2009, Samantha established herself as a rising star in the contemporary blues world.

The charismatic singer-guitarist-songwriter has earned a reputation as a guitar hero and a powerful live performer, while releasing a series of acclaimed albums that have shown her restless creative spirit consistently pushing her in new, exciting, and often unexpected musical directions.

The New York Times called Fish, “An impressive blues guitarist who sings with sweet power,” and “One of the genre’s most promising young talents.” Her hometown paper, the Kansas City Star wrote: “Samantha Fish has kicked down the door of the patriarchal blues club and displays more imagination and creativity than some blues veterans exhibit over the course of their careers.”

Samantha believes her musical future is an open road. “I’m never going be a traditional blues artist, because that’s not who I am,” she says. “But it’s all the Blues for me. When Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf came out, what they were doing didn’t sound like anything that had been done in Blues before.

Continues Samantha, “You’ve got to keep that kind of fire and spirit. I’m never going to do Muddy Waters better than Muddy Waters, so I try to be who I am, and in doing that, I find my best voice.”