Lily-O

Lily-O emerged from Amidon's collaboration with guitarist Bill Frisell, who had been a hero of Amidon's since his youth. Starting in 2011, Frisell and Amidon collaborated in an array of contexts, starting with Amidon's appearing as a guest with Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers Trio in Ludwigsburg, Germany;{{cite web|url=https://www.schlossfestspiele.de/de/festspiele/archiv/sommer_2011/index.htm |title=Archiv – Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele |website=Schlossfestspiele.de |accessdate=10 March 2017}} a brief duo tour of the Northeastern US by the two musicians;{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/40173285 |title=Sam Amidon and Bill Frisell "It Should Have Happened a Long Time Ago (Paul Motian)" "Banks of the Arkansas" at Le Poisson Rouge on Vimeo |via=Vimeo |date=11 April 2012 |accessdate=10 March 2017}} and a concert by Frisell featuring Amidon, jazz pianist Jason Moran, and singer Alicia Hall Moran at Jazz at Lincoln Center.{{cite web|url=http://www.jazz.org/press/bill-frisells-roots-of-americana-series-opens-with-gershwin-beyond/ |title=Bill Frisell'S Roots Of Americana Series Opens With Gershwin & Beyond |website=Jazz.org |date=31 July 2013 |accessdate=10 March 2017}}

For the Lily-O album, Amidon decided to bring Frisell to Iceland to record at Greenhouse Studios with Amidon's longtime collaborators Shahzad Ismaily on electric bass and Chris Vatalaro on drums and live electronics. Amidon did not share the songs with the band beforehand but instead taught them as they went, with the group's arrangements coming together as they recorded. The band recorded their tracks live on the floor over the course of three days, with very few overdubs.{{cite web|url=http://highway81revisited.com/sam-amidon-talks-lily-o-bill-frisell-and-collaboration-with-hendrix/ |title=Sam Amidon Talks 'Lily-O,' Bill Frisell And 'Collaboration' With Hendrix |publisher=Highway 81 Revisited |date=16 October 2014 |accessdate=10 March 2017}}

All Music Guide stated that Lily-O may be the finest hour of Amidon's well-refined approach to the seemingly endless well of public domain folk songs, offering some of his most beautiful and daring arrangements yet."{{cite web|first=Fred|last=Thomas |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/lily-o-mw0002718126 |title=Lily-O – Sam Amidon | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date=30 September 2014 |accessdate=10 March 2017}} The New York Times called it "A hauntingly beautiful new album."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/arts/music/new-albums-from-weezer-sam-amidon-and-rich-gang.html|title=New Albums from Weezer, Sam Amidon and Rich Gang|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=10 March 2017}} The Wondering Sound review said that "Amidon is doing to folk what Arthur Russell did to disco and dance music: the components are taken context-free and mixed around."{{cite web|url=http://www.wonderingsound.com/review/sam-amidon-lily-o-nonesuch/ |title=Sam Amidon, 'Lily-O' (Nonesuch) Review |publisher=Wondering Sound |accessdate=10 March 2017}}

Amidon toured the album extensively including a 10-day US tour with Frisell and Ismaily, with shows at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall and Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg, and an appearance on the NPR Tiny Desk Concert.{{cite web|first=Bob|last=Boilen |url=https://www.npr.org/event/music/367761543/sam-amidon-bill-frisell-tiny-desk-concert |title=Sam Amidon & Bill Frisell: Tiny Desk Concert |publisher=NPR |accessdate=10 March 2017}}

All songs composed by Sam Amidon/Traditional, arranged by Sam Amidon, except track 2 composed by Sam Amidon; track 9 by Rosa Lee Watson, arranged by Sam Amidon; track 10 music by Sam Amidon/Alexander Johnson (1818), lyric by Isaac Watts (1719).

1. "Walkin' Boss" – 3:30
2. "Down the Line" – 4:47
3. "Blue Mountains" – 5:17
4. "Pat Do This, Pat Do That" – 3:21
5. "Lily-O" – 8:53
6. "Groundhog Variations" – 3:25
7. "Won't Turn Back" – 5:17
8. "Maid Lamenting" – 2:52
9. "Your Lone Journey" – 4:22
10. "Devotion" – 5:25

• Sam Amidon – vocals, banjo, acoustic guitar, fiddle
• Bill Frisell – Electric guitar
• Shahzad Ismaily – Electric bass, Moog Synth on "Pat Do This, Pat Do That"
• Chris Vatalaro – drums, electronics, keyboards; flutes on "Pat Do This, Pat Do That," piano on "Won't Turn back"
• engineered, mixed and mastered by Valgeir Sigurðsson
• Additional engineering by Paul Evans and John Spiker
• cover photo – "Swat Valley Picnic" by Peter Smith

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.npr.org/2014/11/03/361184525/re-compositions-not-covers-sam-amidons-personal-folk-collages/ npr review]
• [http://observer.com/2014/11/sam-amidons-new-weird-america/ Observer Feature]
• [https://vimeo.com/40173285/ duo at LPR]
• [https://www.npr.org/event/music/367761543/sam-amidon-bill-frisell-tiny-desk-concert/ tiny desk]
• [http://highway81revisited.com/sam-amidon-talks-lily-o-bill-frisell-and-collaboration-with-hendrix/ highway 81 interview]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/arts/music/new-albums-from-weezer-sam-amidon-and-rich-gang.html?_r=1/ New York Times Album Review]
• [http://diffuser.fm/sam-amidon-lily-o-album-review/ Diffuser Album Review]
• [http://observer.com/2014/11/sam-amidons-new-weird-america/ Observer Album Review]

{{Sam Amidon}}

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Category:2014 albums

Category:Sam Amidon albums

Category:Nonesuch Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson