Review: Carter Sampson – Live At The Blue Door
Carter Sampson – Live At The Blue Door
Format: CD – Digital / Label: Horton Records
Release: 2025
Text: Bert van Kessel
Carter Sampson is the Queen of Oklahoma. She has graced European stages with her presence regularly, thus building an impressive fanbase. But for these solo recordings, made by bandmate Kyle Reid in November 2024, she played a home game in Tulsa, in a very familiar venue, The Blue Door.
They were two very intimate shows characterised by integrity and conviction. With her quirky girl-next-door image, and her high-quality, very personal, songwriting and gorgeous vocals she effortlessly wound the home crowd round her little finger. With six full-length albums under her belt she has plenty of great material to choose from, so she hand-picked her favourites, all self-penned with one surprising cover Moon River, a childhood favourite.
The show opens with the beautiful and very personal Home, which is followed by the equally personal Gold, dedicated to her mum, who’s in the audience. The satirical love song Drunk Text adds some fun to the show. The positive There’s Always Next Year brings hope to a world in turmoil. The happy Peaches is a tribute to her grandparents. She easily maintains a high level of intimacy. After the uplifting Wild Ride she tells the intriguing story of an incident among Guy and Susanna Clark with Townes Van Zandt in Ten Penny Nail.
The ensuing Black Blizzard is a gripping tale of hardship in the 1930s. A heartfelt rendition of Moon River is preceded by her convincing signature tune Queen Of Oklahoma.
This captivating show is concluded with a grand finale of three songs. Hello Darling is a beautiful traditional love song, which may well bring a tear to your eye. It is followed by crowd favourite Rattlesnake Kate about an amazing woman in the 1920s who reportedly killed 140 rattlesnakes all by herself.
The title track from her 2016 breakthrough album ‘Wilder Side’ sends the satisfied audience home and I realize I have really enjoyed being part of this intimate Okie community with an amazingly honest and talented singer/ songwriter.
Tracks:
01. Home
02. Gold – Intro
03. Gold
04. Drunk Text
05. There’s Always Next Year
06. Pray and Scream
07. Peaches – Intro
08. Peaches
09. See the Devil Run
10. Wild Ride
11. Ten Penny Nail – Intro
12. Ten Penny Nail
13. Black Blizzard
14. Wild Bird
15. Queen of Oklahoma
16. Moon River
17. Hello Darlin’
18. Rattlesnake Kate
19. Wilder Side
Website: https://cartersampson.net/