John K. Samson Recent News

John K. Samson Premieres New Video For "Longitudinal Centre"

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0800

John K. Samson is the singer-songwriter for the acclaimed indie rock band The Weakerthans and he just released his highly anticipated full length solo album, Provincial, this January 24th via Epitaph-Anti Records.

Samson has also released an intensely evocative cinematic clip for the song “Longitudinal Centre” from Provincial. The footage provides a perfect visual companion to the poignant up-tempo track. To watch the video please go to IFC.com.

Provincial contains newly recorded versions of songs from Samson’s previous two EPs, City Route 85 and Provincial Road 222, alongside a collection of beautifully evocative new tracks. The songs traverse four routes woven into the prairie landscape of Manitoba, the Canadian province where Samson lives. They are hymns for the departed and rockers for the living, songs about dying villages, Icelandic longing, snowplows, broken glass, satellites, hockey skates, and staff room romances.

The Weakerthans were born out of the Winnipeg-punk-scene. The group’s breakthrough album Reconstruction Site and its celebrated follow up Reunion Tour deftly merged a melodic punk with Bob Dylan-Ray Davies lyrical insights, earning a wider fan base and establishing Samson as a songwriter of immense talent. Paste Magazine wrote of Reunion Tour, “If such a prize existed, it would be the leading candidate for this year’s Punk Pulitzer.”

John K. Samson & The Provincial Band Tour Dates

3/7 Kingston, ON at The Grad Club
3/8 Ottawa, ON at Mavericks Bar
3/9 Montreal, QC at La Sala Rossa
3/10 Boston, MA at Brighton Music Hall
3/11 Philadelphia, PA at Union Transfer
3/13 Washington DC at Black Cat
3/15 New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom
3/14 Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell’s
3/16 Pittsburgh, PA at Club Cafe
3/17 Buffalo, NY at Mohawk
3/18 Hamilton, ON at The Casbah
3/20 London, ON at The Aeolian Hall
3/21 Guelph, ON at E-Bar
3/22 Toronto, ON at Great Hall
3/27 Winnipeg, MB at West End Cultural Centre
3/28 Regina, SK at The Exchange
3/29 Edmonton, AB at The Royal Alberta Museum Theater
3/31 Vancouver, BC at The Biltmore
4/1 Seattle,WA at Tractor Tavern
4/2 Portland, OR at Doug Fir
4/5 San Diego, CA at The Casbah
4/6 Los Angeles, CA at The Troubadour
4/7 San Francisco, CA at Bottom of the Hill
4/8 Santa Cruz, CA at The Atrium
4/11 Bellingham, WA at The Shakedown
4/13 Calgary, AB at The Palomino
4/12 Kamloops, BC at Hero’s Pub
4/14 Saskatoon, SK at Amigos Cantina

John K. Samson 'Provincial' Available Today

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0800

John K. Samson's full length solo album Provincial is available everywhere today! Click over to iTunes to download, visit the Epitaph Store to order on CD and vinyl or head out to your local record store to pick up a copy.

John K. Samson Premieres New Album At Paste

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0800

John K. Samson is the singer and songwriter for the highly acclaimed indie rock band, The Weakerthans. On January 24th, Samson will release a full length solo album, Provincial via Epitaph/Anti Records. In anticipation, PasteMagazine.com is streaming the new record in it’s entirety.

To listen to Provincial, please go here.

Provincial contains 12 musical vignettes united by a deep sense of place. They are hymns for the departed and rockers for the living, songs about dying villages, Icelandic longing, snowplows, broken glass, satellites, hockey skates, and staff room romances. In creating these sonic portraits, Samson talked to relatives, friends and strangers; he visited archives, a tuberculosis sanatorium turned RV Park and a forgotten cemetery.

The live dates will feature songs from the new album backed by The Provincial Band, comprised of Shotgun Jimmie on guitar (Jimmie will also open the shows), Doug Friesen (Pete Elkas, Bidiniband) on electric and upright bass and Doug MacGregor (Constantines) on drums. Samson will also perform a selection of solo renditions of material spanning his 20 years as a songwriter.

To watch an evocative cinematic glimpse of Provincial’s prairie roadmap, go here.

John K. Samson & The Provincial Band Tour Dates:

3/7 Kingston, ON at The Grad Club
3/8 Ottawa, ON at Mavericks Bar
3/9 Montreal, QC at La Sala Rossa
3/10 Boston, MA at Brighton Music Hall
3/11 Philadelphia, PA at Union Transfer
3/13 Washington DC at Black Cat
3/15 New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom
3/14 Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell’s
3/16 Pittsburgh, PA at Club Cafe
3/17 Buffalo, NY at Mohawk
3/18 Hamilton, ON at The Casbah
3/20 London, ON at The Aeolian Hall
3/21 Guelph, ON at E-Bar
3/22 Toronto, ON at Great Hall
3/27 Winnipeg, MB at West End Cultural Centre
3/28 Regina, SK at The Exchange
3/29 Edmonton, AB at The Royal Alberta Museum Theater
3/31 Vancouver, BC at The Biltmore
4/1 Seattle,WA at Tractor Tavern
4/2 Portland, OR at Doug Fir
4/5 San Diego, CA at The Casbah
4/6 Los Angeles, CA at The Troubadour
4/7 San Francisco, CA at Bottom of the Hill
4/8 Santa Cruz, CA at The Atrium
4/11 Bellingham, WA at The Shakedown
4/13 Calgary, AB at The Palomino
4/12 Kamloops, BC at Hero’s Pub
4/14 Saskatoon, SK at Amigos Cantina

John K. Samson Premieres New Song At Brooklyn Vegan

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0800

John K. Samson, singer-songwriter for critically lauded indie rock band The Weakerthans will premiere a powerful new song from his upcoming full length solo album, Provincial this January 4th care of Brooklyn Vegan.

The evocative and beautifully mournful song, a companion to the recently premiered “When I Write my Master’s Thesis,” is titled “Letter in Icelandic from the Ninette San.” It is set in a tuberculosis sanatorium which existed in the small town of Ninette, Manitoba from 1915 to 1973. The lilting and moving lyrics are sung as a letter written by a fictional Icelandic immigrant patient residing in the San, to his brother back home in Riverton, Manitoba, sometime in the 1940s.

To hear the incredible new song “Letter in Icelandic from the Ninette San,” go to Brooklyn Vegan.

Provincial will be released this January 24th via Epitaph-Anti Records. The record contains newly recorded versions of songs from Samson’s previous two acclaimed EPs, “City Route 85” and “Provincial Road 222,” alongside a collection of beautifully evocative new tracks. They are hymns for the departed and rockers for the living, songs about dying villages, Icelandic longing, snowplows, broken glass, satellites, hockey skates, and staff room romances. In creating these sonic portraits, Samson talked to relatives, friends and strangers. The resulting album contains 12 fierce, tuneful, vivid stories united by a deep sense of place.

John K. Samson & The Provincial Band Tour Dates:

3/7 Kingston, ON at The Grad Club
3/8 Ottawa, ON at Mavericks Bar
3/9 Montreal, QC at La Sala Rossa
3/10 Boston, MA at Brighton Music Hall
3/11 Philadelphia, PA at Union Transfer
3/13 Washington DC at Black Cat
3/15 New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom
3/16 Pittsburgh, PA at Club Cafe
3/17 Buffalo, NY at Mohawk
3/18 Hamilton, ON at The Casbah
3/20 London, ON at The Aeolian Hall
3/21 Guelph, ON at E-Bar
3/22 Toronto, ON at Great Hall
3/27 Winnipeg, MB at West End Cultural Centre
3/28 Regina, SK at The Exchange
3/29 Edmonton, AB at The Royal Alberta Museum Theater
3/31 Vancouver, BC at The Biltmore
4/1 Seattle,WA at Tractor Tavern
4/2 Portland, OR at Doug Fir
4/5 San Diego, CA at The Casbah
4/6 Los Angeles, CA at The Troubadour
4/7 San Francisco, CA at Bottom of the Hill
4/8 Santa Cruz, CA at The Atrium
4/11 Bellingham, WA at The Shakedown
4/13 Calgary, AB at The Palomino
4/14 Saskatoon, SK at Amigos Cantina

John K. Samson Premieres New Song At Paste

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:12:00 -0800

John K. Samson is the singer and songwriter for the highly acclaimed indie rock band, The Weakerthans. On January 24th, Samson will release a full length solo album, Provincial via Epitaph/Anti Records. In anticipation, PasteMagazine.com is premiering a new track from the record; an insightful upbeat rocker titled,“When I Write My Master’s Thesis.”

To listen to the track, please go to Paste Magazine.

Provincial contains 12 musical vignettes united by a deep sense of place. They are hymns for the departed and rockers for the living, songs about dying villages, Icelandic longing, snowplows, broken glass, satellites, hockey skates, and staff room romances. In creating these sonic portraits, Samson talked to relatives, friends and strangers; he visited archives, a tuberculosis sanatorium turned RV Park and a forgotten cemetery.

The live dates will feature songs from the new album backed by The Provincial Band, comprised of Shotgun Jimmie on guitar (Jimmie will also open the shows), Doug Friesen (Pete Elkas, Bidiniband) on electric and upright bass and Doug MacGregor (Constantines) on drums. Samson will also perform a selection of solo renditions of material spanning his 20 years as a songwriter.

To watch an evocative cinematic glimpse of Provincial’s prairie roadmap, go here.

John K. Samson & The Provincial Band tour dates (more dates TBA)

3/10 - Boston, MA at Brighton Music Hall
3/11 - Philadelphia, PA at Union Transfer
3/13 - Washington DC at Black Cat
3/15 - New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom
3/16 - Pittsburgh, PA at Club Cafe
3/17 - Buffalo, NY at Mohawk
4/1 - Seattle,WA at Tractor Tavern
4/2 - Portland, OR at Doug Fir
4/5 - San Diego, CA at The Casbah
4/6 - Los Angeles, CA at The Troubadour
4/7 - San Francisco, CA at Bottom of the Hill

John K. Samson To Release New Solo Album 'Provincial'

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:11:00 -0800

John K. Samson, singer-songwriter for critically lauded indie rock band The Weakerthans, will release his first full length solo album, entitled Provincial, this January 24th via Epitaph-Anti Records. The record contains newly recorded versions of songs from Samson’s previous two acclaimed EPs, “City Route 85” and “Provincial Road 222,” alongside a collection of beautifully evocative new tracks, which are available for pre-order now at the Epitaph Store.

Provincial travels four routes woven into the prairie landscape of Manitoba, the Canadian province where Samson lives. It finds familiar landmarks and forgotten ones; it mines the precise and particular. For a video glimpse of Provincial’s prairie roadmap, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfqLrWMMPZ4

“Heart of the Continent,” describes the sense of loss and despair that haunts the former site of a Winnipeg landmark, set against a backdrop of lilting country folk. The melodic rocker “When I Write my Master’s Thesis,” details a young academic’s struggle to hold his life together as he tries complete his research of a forgotten institution in tiny Ninette, Manitoba, while "www.petitions.com/petition/riveronrifle/ " is a song in the form of an online petition to honor the valiant hockey player Reggie “The Riverton Rifle” Leach.

They are hymns for the departed and rockers for the living, songs about dying villages, Icelandic longing, snowplows, broken glass, satellites, hockey skates, and staff room romances. In creating these sonic portraits, Samson talked to relatives, friends and strangers; he visited archives, a tuberculosis sanatorium turned RV Park and a forgotten cemetery. The resulting album contains 12 fierce, tuneful, vivid stories united by a deep sense of place.

The Weakerthans were born out of the Winnipeg-punk-scene. The group’s breakthrough album Reconstruction Site and its celebrated follow up Reunion Tour deftly merged a melodic punk with Bob Dylan-Ray Davies lyrical insights, earning a wider fan base and establishing Samson as a songwriter of immense talent. Paste Magazine wrote of Reunion Tour, “If such a prize existed, it would be the leading candidate for this year’s Punk Pulitzer.”

John K. Samson & The Provincial Band tour dates (More US & Canadian dates TBA soon!)

3/10 - Boston, MA at Brighton Music Hall
3/11 - Philadelphia, PA at Union Transfer
3/13 - Washington DC at Black Cat
3/15 - New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom
3/16 - Pittsburgh, PA at Club Cafe
3/17 - Buffalo, NY at Mohawk
4/1 - Seattle,WA at Tractor Tavern
4/2 - Portland, OR at Doug Fir
4/5 - San Diego, CA at The Casbah
4/6 - Los Angeles, CA at The Troubadour
4/7 - San Francisco, CA at Bottom of the Hill