Samantha Fish - Paper Doll Live

Samantha Fish turns up the heat at Knoxville's historic Bijou Theatre on Paper Doll Live, her first official live album.

The set leans on songs from Paper Doll alongside older favourites, and it captures what she does best: tough, guitar-heavy blues rock delivered with real swagger and plenty of soul. Nashville gospel group The McCrary Sisters join her on the record, adding harmonies that give the bigger moments an extra lift and push the band toward church-hall fervour.

Paper Doll opens the vinyl with a snarl, and Can Ya Handle the Heat? lives up to its title, all crunching riffs and stinging leads. Don't Say It gets a soaring boost from the McCrary Sisters, while Black Wind Howlin', the title track of her 2013 album, closes the record with a dark, swampy stomp that shows how far back her love of grit runs.

Fans have been asking for a live record for years, and this one feels true to the shows: loud, raw and loose in the right places, with her playing front and centre. This single LP trims the full set to nine tracks, keeping the pace high from start to finish. It is a vivid snapshot of a guitarist in prime form, caught in a room that loves her back.