Rising NYC-based, Kentucky-born singer-songwriter Sam Phelps has released the second single from his forthcoming EP, Hunter Springs Road (out November 4). PRESS HERE to listen and to watch the official video for “Leavin,” which premiered via Bluegrass Situation, was directed by Joshua Black Wilkins and features a guest appearance by Langhorne Slim’s Vintage Ford Fairlane 500. (below)
Produced by GRAMMY-Award winning artist Chance McCoy (Old Crow Medicine Show) and featuring guitar from virtuoso Laur Joamets (Sturgill Simpson), Hunter Springs Road (which is named after the street McCoy’s West Virginia studio is located on) is a collection of songs about home, restlessness and homesickness. The EP showcases the most vivid of the countless songs Sam Phelps wrote over the past year in lockdown, and the singer-songwriter’s open-hearted storytelling is on full display.
On “Kentucky,” the artist confronts his complicated relationship with his home state, and on “New York Newsstand Blues,” he merges Americana and folk traditions with the modern urban storytelling of one of his heroes, the late Justin Townes Earle. “Stand Up Guy” is a meditation on change and restlessness featuring some of the artist’s gorgeous finger-picking. On “Leavin,” meanwhile, Sam Phelps shows off the tender vulnerability and delicate craft of his songs about past ghosts, farewells, and how one’s past is never far behind.
Born and raised in Pulaski County, Kentucky, Sam Phelps’ father gifted him his first guitar when he was 13 years old, and as soon as he heard Steve Earle’s “Billy Austin” for the first time, he knew that songwriting would one day be his calling. Phelps writes songs that stop reality, songs that demand your attention, songs that force the listener to live in the world they’ve created.
For more information, please visit www.samphelpsofficial.com.
