Jake Xerxes Fussell

On April 16, 2026, at La Sala Rossa in Montreal, Jake Xerxes Fussell brings the American folk tradition back to center stage. Between Georgia, where he grew up, and North Carolina, where he lives, he draws on the popular repertoires and field collections of the American South to rearrange ballads, laments, work songs and fragments of country blues. His poised singing and clear guitar playing favor moderate tempos, leaving room for the narratives and landscapes contained in these old songs. From his eponymous debut in 2015 through Good and Green Again, he forges a simple, precise connection with contemporary Americana, sometimes supported by a rhythm section or a few discreet brass instruments.

Sam Amidon rounds out the bill. A singer and musician, he also works in a strain of folk attentive to stories and melodies, echoing Jake Xerxes Fussell’s approach. Their meeting emphasizes living repertoires, passed down and transformed over time, for an evening where songs circulate without unnecessary effects, carried by voice and guitar.