Sam Burton

Sam Burton has always made music full of the hope of possibility and unbound potential that also channels the tension of accepting loss while still grieving it. Now, Burton is at his most confident and self assured; he’s at ease in his depth. Fairweather Friend is the Palestinian-American musician’s third solo record since moving to Los Angeles from his home state of Utah in 2016. “I think a lot of things were changing, including the way LA used to feel for me when I was young and I felt like I could do anything,” he says. “It felt like certain doors were closing. But the growth was inspiring to me. And I liked that.” Coming off such extensive touring, he began writing with solo performance in mind, rather than exclusively for a band, elevating his own guitar playing by studying solo performances by artists like Neil Young and Jansch. There’s a new energy here: the song’s title track explores the uplift you feel with people you love, and the heartbreak that comes with realizing that some things aren’t meant to last. Across the album is an underlying, tangible fear, and simultaneous embrace of the unknown. Finally there’s surrender, the thing that leads to true freedom. Sam Burton writes, essentially, folk music, but to limit him to the genre doesn’t feel like it does justice to his work. His depth places him in the legacy of singer-songwriter acts like Fred Neil, Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen.