Ironing Board Sam has had a legendary sixty years: Jimi Hendrix briefly played in his band, he’s played shows under water, he’s shared a club residency with the Jackson 5, he’s played inside human-sized jukeboxes. And you’ve almost certainly never heard of him.
I hadn’t either, until about two months ago, when I was drinking in Nashville, seated at America’s greatest dive bar, the Springwater. I struck up a conversation with Slick (it might have been Slim — sincerest apologies for a saturated, fuzzy memory) and Jerry, who spun tales of rock and roll long past. The stories of Ironing Board Sam stuck out quite far from the rest — and you can see why right here:
He’s returned with a new record, Ironing Board Sam & The Sticks with a new band, Ironing Board Sam & The Sticks. Hailed as a “jamming” record, it certainly sounds like it. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with Sam this weekend, when he plays Lincoln Center’s Americanafest NYC (August 10) for the Music Maker Blues Revue, put together by the non-profit Music Maker Relief Foundation.
You can listen to the new album, exclusively streaming with Billboard, directly below, and get tickets to the show right here.