Sam Baker is someone you should be listening to. From his website:
“In 1986, at age 32, Baker was traveling in Peru when, as he says, “I got in the middle of somebody else’s war.” A terrorist bomb (the Sendero Luminoso or “Shining Path” Maoist group) blew up the train he and some friends were riding on. Several passengers died, including a German boy and his parents, who were sitting next to Baker. Though he nearly bled to death, Sam survived but suffered a constellation of injuries and aftereffects—shrapnel in his leg, renal failure, brain damage, even gangrene.
“Right now, the loudest thing I hear is the ringing in my head,” he says of the Tinnitus, which will never go away. The other obvious reminder of the blast is his left hand, the fingers of which are permanently scrunched and twisted. Fortunately, he has enough dexterity to grip a pick—after re-learning to play guitar left-handed (fretting with the less-injured right hand)—so that he can sing and play some of the most vivid, compelling, truly original songs of any artist working today.”
The brain damage he suffered affects the part of his brain where words are stored, which adds another sense of wonder to the beautifully compelling songs he produces. I was only introduced to Baker a few months ago as his newest record, Cotton, was about to be released – and while I waited to hear it I picked up his last two records, Pretty World and Mercy. All three of them are fantastic and deserve a place in your heart. This is a taste off his latest, called “Signs”.
mp3: Sam Baker – Signs
from the album Cotton (iTunes/Amazon)
