Les Sampou ~ 2025 September 13 ~ South Shore Folk Music Club, Duxbury, MA
Les Sampou, guitar and vocals
Scroll to below videos for a review of the show.
Video
Don't Let Me Down
Review
Les is a very strong singer and a good guitar player, playing a wide ranging mix of covers and originals, mostly in the folk and blues realm, edging into 1960s and 80s and even contemporary pop and rock. During her two hour show there was something for everyone, and she didn't cross the line into anything too twangy for this dedicated folk audience.
Since she was playing at the long standing South Shore Folk Music Club, she reminisced about how kind the president of the club, Dick Pleasants, was to her and how he helped her secure a record contract. She also told about her experiences taking guitar lessons with well known folkie Paul Rishell, who has played at this venue a number of times. She told stories from her long career, such as the story of busking in the subway when she was getting started as a live performer. She only needed to know three songs, since the train would come along and a whole different crowd of listeners would be there.
She doesn't exactly have a superstar look -- dresses more like a suburban housewife on her way to pick up her preteen at the bus stop. Although that doesn't matter to a casual folk crowd, maybe Maura Kennedy could give her a stage tip or two.
Although her performance was genuinely very good, I had mixed feelings about this show. The majority of the songs she played were downbeat and minor key. One was truly depressing, about a teenage girl suffering suicidal thoughts. The only original song of hers that wasn't in the tragic folk song category was a song called "Crush," that was really quite perky. As for the covers she did, they ranged so far over the map that I was left with a feeling that she's a folkie, or maybe a blues traditionalist, but looking for an identity. She did covers of Gillian Welch, Robert Johnson, Traffic, the Beatles (see the video), John Prine, some currently popular singer who opened for Taylor Swift, and Lucinda Williams. These songs were all good (although I question the song choice in the opening-for-Taylor-Swift singer) but I really feel a little focus would have been a good thing. And some songs with a little joy instead of a lot of sadness would definitely be a good thing; but I understand you take what the muse gives you.
Kudos to Tall Richard (the president of the club) and the hardworking volunteer staff at the South Shore club for starting off another year presenting folk music to the public at a reasonable cost. Easy to find and good parking. Really good treats for a small donation, a raffle for a CD, a 50/50 raffle, a cheap membership gets you a discount off the ticket. At the end of the show the audience helps put away the chairs and everybody goes home looking forward to the next concert.