"Courageous as hell and country to the bone -- Amazingly talented Sam Gleaves, the best young songwriter around, heads into new territory with his brilliant album AIN'T WE BROTHERS, joined by a group of world-class musicians and singers. Varied, intelligent, moving -- these songs stay with you."  

 -Lee Smith, Queen of Appalachian Literature

“What I first noticed about Sam was the gift, but that’s obvious to anybody. What struck me was just underneath that talent, an honest respect and desire to honor this tradition. Sam is all we hope to see and hear in these younger generations.”

-Sheila Kay Adams

NEA National Heritage Fellowship Recipient

Seventh generation ballad singer


“If a remake of ‘O, Brother!’ is made some decades from now, it is quite likely that Sam Gleaves will be standing where Ralph Stanley stood. This music, this culture, this history, and mainly this spirit will live forever in Sam's magic. 

He's got so much mojo to give you."


-Gaye Adegbalola

Blues Woman

Founding Member of Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women

“Sam Gleaves is an amazing new talent. To think that someone so young can understand the ancient tones of this music with such a deep and profound sense of honor makes me have a whole new kind of hope for the future. When Sam sings, we hear the generations before him: the joys, the sorrows, the strength and defeats. When Sam plays, we hear the land that has informed this music: the jagged, dark mountains, the meandering creeks, the even-rowed fields. 

A LITTLE WHILE IN THE WILDERNESS announces a new artist with an old soul, and a soul that has a keen understanding of what makes this music so powerful."


 -Silas House

NEH Chair Appalachian Studies, Berea College

Bestselling author 

PUBLISHED REVIEWS

The Guardian, Feature on "Ain't We Brothers" by Bonnie Prince Billy and Lanre Bakare, 2017.

NPR Music, Feature by Jewly Hight, November 12, 2015. 

No Depression, Review by Rachel Cholst, November 15, 2015. 

Adobe and Teardrops November 13, 2015

Maximum Ink, Slipped Discs, November 2015.  

Perceptive Travel, World Music Reviews, November 2015. 

KEXP, Music That Matters, October 29, 2015. 

Off-Center Views, October Music Roundup, 2015. 

LinQ Magazine, Review by Helena Handbasket, November 2015. 

Windy City Times, Article by Terri-Lynne Waldron, November 10, 2015. 

Us & Them Podcast, Revisiting the Grand Palace: Sam Williams and Sam Gleaves, 2015. 

Tuesday Night, October 13, 2015. 

Alternate Root, Top 10 Songs of the Week, October 24, 2015. 

Midwest Record Entertainment, October 24, 2015. 

Still Journal, Multimedia Feature, Fall 2015 issue. 

Glacially Musical, album review and interview, November 17, 2015.