Sam Brookes
London, England, United Kingdom | Established. Jan 01, 2011 | MAJOR
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Like many before him, Brookes is moving into Jeff Buckley and Bon Iver territory... Unlike most of those aspirants, though, he sounds uncommonly at home there" -
"With his high, keening tenor vibrato sailing effortlessly into the upper register, there’s something of Tim Buckley about Sam Brookes on the folk singer’s latest album. Set among intimate ambient spaces of slouching percussion grooves and starlight droplets of electric guitar, his voice conveys a paradoxical sense of powerful fragility on these songs of lovelorn indecision." - Andy Gill
"Musically, he excels at propulsive, narratively rick folk, delivered in a soaring, clear-as-a-bell singing voice that makes every word of his evocative lyrics count" -
"Kairos is a sensuous, fluid, 21st Century folk dream" - Neil McCormick
"Few singers would have the front, let alone the voice to entertain a comparison with Tim Buckley......" -
Discography
Single - In Weeks (Helium Records) 25 April 2011
Album - Sam Brookes (Helium Records) 18 June 2011
Single - Breathe Me In (Helium Records) 5 August 2011
Single - Forever Absent (Helium Records) November 2011
Photos
Bio
The youngest of five siblings, Sam was raised in the London overspill town of Bracknell near Reading. When his parents split in his mid teens, he moved west with his father, who ran a framing business and renovated old guitars. The workshop resounded to the sounds of Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, John Martyn and Richard Thompson; all key influences on the young Sam, who first picked up a guitar at 12 to strum ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ and went on to master the finger picking folk blues of Davy Graham.
At 18, Sam joined his first group; a pop rock 4 piece called The Volt, who built up something of a local following; playing Glastonbury, The Great Escape and Liverpool Sound City and reached headline status at the O2 Academy in Bristol. Sam’s fast growing confidence as a songwriter led him back to London to develop his craft and pursue his own modern soulful folk muse. His eponymously titled debut album came shortly after and was followed by a busy 38 date album tour schedule which included dates with Emmy the Great, The Travelling Band, and Chris Wood.
Sam Brookes' new album 'Kairos' was funded by fans through Pledge Music and self-released in 2014 with support from Arts Council England. Sam is a hard working musician who is spreading his wings across the UK and Europe including his own headline tours and high profile support shows for Newton Faulkner, Ray Davies, and Lucy Rose. He is enjoying radio support from BBC Introducing and Regional network, as well as a recent live session for Dermot O'Leary and a performance at this years Radio 2 in Hyde Park.
“He generates an engaging sense of cosmic wonder.” Q Magazine
"There is something of a Tim Buckley about Sam Brookes...a sense of powerful fragility...vast emotional reserves at work" - Andy Gill, The Independent
"Few singers would have the front, let alone the voice to entertain a
comparison with Tim Buckley......" - Acoustic Magazine
"Musically, he excels at propulsive, narratively rick folk, delivered in a
soaring, clear-as-a-bell singing voice that makes every word of his evocative
lyrics count" - The Sunday Times
"Like many before him, Brookes is moving into Jeff Buckley and Bon Iver
territory... Unlike most of those aspirants, though, he sounds uncommonly at
home there" - Uncut Magazine
Band Members
Links
