Wednesday, June 26, 2019

“I Like Girls” sings lesbian jazz singer Samantha Sidley on iconic single; Upcoming album created by women incl. Inara George (The Bird and The Bee).

Iconic pride tune, written by Alex Lilly (Beck), Barbara Gruska (The Belle Brigade), out now. Hear it at Grimy Goods, Jazziz. US tour launches Aug. 11th. 

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Samantha Sidley as photographed by Logan White

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Listen to “I Like Girls” by Samantha Sidley at Grimy Goods or Jazziz or the link above now!

“It takes us back to the speakeasies of the 20s, with flirtatious saxophones and crisp, expressive vocals. The song is a sophisticated and delicious ice-breaker, serving anthemic lyrical content for an evolving culture.” — Grimy Goods

Sam tells Jazziz, “I’m a jazz singer and I wanted to sing songs that represented me but still sounded timeless. I used to just change the pronouns in standards but now I have originals in the genre especially about me and my story.”

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Samantha Sidley | Live


All dates w/ Alex Lilly, The Bird and The Bee

08/11/2019: St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club (TIX)
08/12/2019: Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village (TIX)
08/14/2019: Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre (TIX)
08/15/2019: Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre (TIX)
08/16/2019: Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live (TIX)
08/17/2019: Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere (TIX)
08/20/2019: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle (TIX)
08/21/2019: Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 (TIX)
08/22/2019: Birmingham, AL @ The Saturn (TIX)
08/24/2019: Dallas, TX @ Trees (TIX)
08/25/2019: Austin, TX @ Parish (TIX)
08/28/2019: Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom (TIX)
08/29/2019: San Diego, CA @ Casbah (TIX)
08/30/2919: San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop (TIX)

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Samantha Sidley | “I Like Girls”


See Samantha Sidley performing an impromptu unplugged version of “I Like Girls” now!


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Samantha Sidley | About

Samantha Sidley is a jazz vocalist, born-and-raised in Los Angeles, and she likes girls.

The words “I like girls” are the first thing you’ll hear when Sidley’s debut album Interior Person (Sept. 13th, Release Me Records) opens. The song is an unassuming anthem, a future standard for an evolving culture. It’s also a fun and funny ice-breaker that you’ll sing along with.

“I Like Girls” is a peek into what plays out as a meticulously crafted debut album featuring Sidley’s beautifully trained voice taking confident ownership of songs written for her to sing by some of the most important women in her life.

These other “girls” include fellow musicians Inara George, Alex Lilly, and Sidley’s “Top One” favorite musician of all-time, her wife, Barbara Gruska.

Inara and Alex and Barbara wrote songs that are all very personal to my story – they literally are my story – and from my lesbian perspective, which I appreciate so much,” Sidley says. In addition to co-writing many of the songs here, and playing drums (masterfully) on many of the tracks, Gruska also produced Interior Person in a studio constructed in Sidley’s childhood bedroom.

“My whole life was a song,” Sidley says of her childhood. “If I looked at a tree, it was a song. If I felt happy, sad, joy, it was a song. When I first heard Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ I remember thinking: ‘I understand.’ I’ve always considered myself an interpreter, which is sort of and undervalued art form. I like to take a song and make the story true for me.”

Sidley soon discovered Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, soul music in general, and her own personal “soulfulness” itself. You know, like all seven-year-olds do. Later, considering how annoyed 11-year-old Sidley was when her vocal instructor wouldn’t allow her to sing Holiday’s “Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)” at her first recital, it all made perfect sense.

A decade later, Sidley got to sing whatever she wanted, performing at NYC’s legendary Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, where she lived in Dorothy Parker’s room, listened to a lot of Anita O’Day and Ella Fitzgerald, and landed a rave review in The New York Times.

“She knows exactly how I express myself and what my intentions are,” Sidley says of her working relationship with Gruska. “Collaborating on this record has actually been a much longer collaboration of us getting to know each other.”

Interior Person, the debut album from Samantha Sidley, arrives Sept. 13th, preceded by the single “I Like Girls,” out now.  Samantha Sidley is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Samantha Sidley | Links


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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact


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