Sam Amidon’s meditative folk warms up Free at Noon

This week for the Free at Noon concert series, New England-rooted singer-songwriter Sam Amidon brought a mesmerizing set of delicate and bookish folk music to World Cafe Live. His ninth studio album, Salt River, was released this year on River Lea Records this year, and seven of his set’s eight songs drew from that album

We heard a brooding murder ballad in “Golden Willow Tree,” a song that contrasted its dark subject matter with sparking guitar arpeggios. We heard timeless British folk tones and impressionistic imagery of village community life on “Three Five,” which circled around a drum pulse from Philadelphia’s Matt Barrick of The Walkmen on drums.

“Cusseta” and “I’m On My Journey Home” drew inspiration on shape note singing, which Amaidon described as “a wild hymn singing tradition that usually involves lots of people singing really loud. Today, it’s just me and Matt.” Later, he did get the room to raise its voices on the warm and optimistic “Friends And Neighbors” — but not before teasing them that they’d actually be singing along to Ornette Coleman’s intensely complex “Mind and Time.”

The set was a rare chance for Philly fans to see Sam Amidon this year; his touring in the first half of 2025 is largely comprised of shows in the UK and Europe. Full dates here; check out a gallery of photos from the show below.