Sam Amidon

Sam Amidon is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Vermont, playing fiddle, banjo and guitar. Raised by folk-musician parents, he draws on traditional American ballads, hymns and work songs, reshaping them through improvisation, new arrangements and collaboration.

His Bedroom Community albums All Is Well (2008) and I See the Sign (2010) were produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson, with orchestral arrangements by Nico Muhly. These recordings bring his singing and instrumental playing into settings that range from spare accompaniment to strings, brass, percussion and electronics.

His collaborators include Bill Frisell, Shahzad Ismaily, Sam Gendel and Beth Orton. He has also performed with the Kronos Quartet, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and the Australian Chamber Orchestra with Pekka Kuusisto.

His work extends into dance and film. He helped create and performed in Michael Keegan-Dolan and Teaċ Daṁsa’s Nobodaddy (2024), a dance-theatre work built around his songs. For The History of Sound (2025), he worked as a music adviser and soundtrack performer, coaching Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor in folk singing.