American folk artist Sam Amidon returns to the UK for 2025 to perform his new release, Salt River, his first on Rough Trade Records’ sister label River Lea Records.

The Vermont native, who is now based in London, has collaborated with saxophonist and producer Sam Gendel to reinterpret and regenerate ten songs that he has gathered together as part of a decades-long quest to recontextualise what it means to sing folk songs or make folk music.

The music on Salt River ranges from traditional Appalachian ballad “Golden Willow Tree” to a radical reimagining of Lou Reed’s ”Big Sky,” and was recorded by Amidon, Gendel and percussionist Philippe Melanson, who played together as a trio during sessions at Gendel’s home in Los Angeles.

Salt River follows a busy and rewarding creative period for multi-instrumentalist Amidon who hasm collaborated with the likes of The National, The Britten Sinfonia, Beth Orton, Lonnie Holley, Marc Ribot, the Kronos Quartet and The Blind Boys of Alabama, among many more.