Samantha Fish
Samantha Fish
A blues musician from Kansas City, Missouri, Samantha Fish impressed industry professionals as a teenager before scoring her first Billboard blues number one in her mid-twenties. Fish grew up in a musical family with a variety of genres, including a steady diet of classic rock radio. Her father played guitar and would sometimes jam with friends at home. Young Samantha started out as a drummer but switched to guitar at the age of 15. As a teen, she would sneak into local blues landmark the Knuckleheads Saloon to hear touring musicians, and she began sitting in with them from time to time after she became legal at 18.
In 2009, Fish recorded the live album Live Bait as the Samantha Fish Blues Band, and the rock-edged guitar work brought her to the attention of Ruf Records. The label featured her alongside Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde on the 2011 release Girls with Guitars, which featured covers of the Rolling Stones and the Steve Miller Band as well as original material from the three guitarist/singer/songwriters. Later that same year, Fish released her solo debut, Runaway, also with Ruf Records. It was produced by mentor and frequent collaborator Mike Zito.
She saw her first chart success with her sophomore LP, Black Wind Howlin’, also produced by Zito. It hit the Billboard Heatseekers chart and reached the Top Ten of the blues albums chart upon release in 2013. She followed it with Wild at Heart in 2015, which became a blues number one. In 2017, she returned with her fourth studio album, Chills & Fever. Recorded in Detroit with members of the Detroit Cobras it featured covers of obscure pop and soul tunes.
Also in 2017, Fish issued Belle of the West, recorded in Missouri with Luther Dickinson and featuring musical contributions by guitarist/harmonica player Lightnin’ Malcolm, former-Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, violinist Lillie Mae Rische, and others. The album helped the guitarist pick up a 2018 Blues Music Association award for Contemporary Female Artist of the Year. Fish‘s seventh studio album, Kill or Be Kind, arrived in 2019 and found her working with producer Scott Billington in Memphis.
Artist Biography by Marcy Donelson
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Steve Ulfelder
Steve Ulfelder
Steve Ulfelder is the author of four mystery novels featuring unlikely hero Conway Sax. He’s also a freelance writer and co-owner of an auto-racing business.
Purgatory Chasm, Steve’s debut, was published by Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books in 2011. It was nominated for the Edgar and Anthony Awards in the Best First Novel category, and was named Best First Mystery by RT Book Reviews. The second Conway Sax novel, The Whole Lie, was published in 2012, with Shotgun Lullaby following in 2013. Book four, Wolverine Bros. Freight & Storage, was named Best PI Novel of 2014 by the Sons of Spade blog.
A new hero and new series : One Mississippi – Available now
Archer Dixon: 37 years old, Ivy educated, smart, funny, well read – but he never has amounted to much. He’s been reduced to bartering handyman services for a roof over his head. Having staggered all his life from job to job, Arch is a newly minted private detective. His first case looks easy-peasy – but when he starts digging, things quickly grow tangled. Before Arch knows it, he’s in the middle of a gang war between Nigerian car thieves and murderous Russians.
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and released 25 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, “Cowboy Man”. Wikipedia
The Mavericks
The Mavericks
R.I.P. – Raul Malo
In the world of music, The Mavericks are celebrated for their “post-punk spaghetti-western” sound, blending neotraditional country with Latin, rock, and ska influences.
Led by the incomparable voice of Raul Malo, the band became a symbol of musical eclecticism. Tragically, the music community mourned the loss of Malo in December 2025 at the age of 60. Fans and colleagues remember him as a legendary performer who treated every audience, regardless of size, with the same “awesome” energy. His death marked the end of an era for a group that refused to be pigeonholed into a single genre, consistently proving that authentic artistry knows no borders. Raul Malo was widely regarded as one of the finest vocalists of his generation, often compared to Roy Orbison for his power, range, and emotive delivery. Born in Miami to Cuban parents, his music served as a bridge between cultures and languages.
Founded in 1989 in Miami, Florida, The Mavericks quickly established themselves as “mavericks” in both name and practice. While they initially found success in the Nashville country scene, they were never easily categorized, drawing heavily from Malo’s Cuban-American heritage and various retro influences.
Books by Location
Serial Fiction Writers by Location
C.J. Box
Location – Montana/Wyoming
C. J. Box
C. J. Box is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 27 novels including the Joe Pickett series. He won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Novel (Blue Heaven, 2009) as well as the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, two Barry Awards, and the 2010 Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Award for fiction. He was recently awarded the 2016 Western Heritage Award for Literature by the National Cowboy Museum as well as the Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel by the Western Writers of America in 2017. Over six million copies of his books have been sold in the U.S. and abroad and they’ve been translated into 27 languages. Two television series based on his novels are currently in development.
Watch “Big Sky” on ABC & Joe Pickett on Paramount+
