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About

Les Sampou has been in demand as a live performer for two decades, playing clubs and concert halls and such prestigious festivals as Montreal Jazz Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival (where she won the coveted New Folk Award out of 700 contestants), Philadelphia Folk Festival, and Falcon Ridge to name a few. She has given workshops at Berklee School of Music and appeared on the top syndicated radio programs such as Acoustic Cafe, World Cafe, and NPR. Sampou has released four albums: two on her own label, MoNando Music, and two on Rounder Records, all grabbing the attention of DJs and press people nationwide who gave her unanimous praise. Her second album, “Fall from Grace”, topped the Gavin Americana charts nationwide. Boston radio station WUMB awarded her “Best New Artist of the Year.”

Sampou has easy command of a full-range of American music styles and it’s easy to see why. Her influences range from old timey music by such artists as Elizabeth Cotton and Jimmie Rodgers, to sixties folk music from Joan Baez and Pete Seeger; R&B and Motown tunes by the likes of Percy Sledge, Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett, and a wide variety of country blues covers by musicians including Memphis Minnie, Robert Johnson, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson and many more. Some of Sampou’s more modern influences include Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, and Lowell George of Little Feat. Early on Sampou was taught by her mentor and friend Paul Rishell (W.C. Handy Award winner) a collection of classic country blues songs which she performs to this day.

Quotes

“Hot is the understatement of the year for this release! It’s fu%king great! And what a band!” – Troy Tyree WOMP Productions

“Les Sampou takes us to Lonesomeville and brings us right to the bar with soulfulness, heartache & a good A$$ Kickin’!!!” – John Laurenti, Music Director, WUMB

“On her long-awaited fifth album, ‘Lonesomeville,’ Les Sampou soars over a bracing set of sly, lived-in songs about mismatched lives, hard goodbyes, and honky tonk heartbreak. With a tough and tender voice that can be every bit as stinging or sultry as her slide guitar, Sampou deftly mixes bluesy soul with country twang and down-to-earth storytelling. All of which makes ‘Lonesomeville’ not such a bad place to be after all — especially if she’s playing there.” – Jonathan Perry, Boston Globe “Scene & Heard” columnist

“Les is roaring back with her best CD, a sinewy, blues-rocking delight…!” – Scott Alarik, Boston Globe

“…That’s Les Sampou from her new album Lonesomeville. It’s just an extraordianary album… !” – WUMB

“Powerfully expressive, Les Sampou has been tested in the trenches of life and survived brilliantly. Her new album, “Lonesomeville,” is a personal Top Ten favorite of the year. She invests many songs with the emotional honesty of Lucinda Williams, probing love in all of its complexity while belting the heck out of the music. She has a passionate, rockabilly-blues edge that lifts your spirits high, followed by ballads that dig into your soul like few artists can. She also enlists some of Boston’s true all-stars to back her — including Andy Plaisted, Kevin Barry, Michael Dinallo and Jimmy Ryan — to make this an album you’ll want to revisit eagerly and often.”
— STEVE MORSE, longtime Boston Globe Correspondent who has also contributed to Billboard and Rolling Stone