Sam Phelps Announces Chance McCoy-Produced EP, 'Hunter Springs Road,' Shares Single

Sam Phelps Announces Chance McCoy-Produced EP, ‘Hunter Springs Road,’ Shares Single

Sam Phelps

Rising New York City, Kentucky-born singer-songwriter Sam Phelps will release Hunter Springs Road, a collection of songs about home, restlessness and homesickness on November 4^th produced by Grammy Award-winning Chance McCoy (Old Crow Medicine Show), featuring guitar virtuoso Laur Joamets (Sturgill Simpson). Hunter Springs Road (named after the street McCoy’s West Virginia Studio is located on) showcases the most vivid of the countless songs Sam Phelps wrote over the past year in lockdown, and the singer-songwriter’s open-hearted storytelling is on full display. Phelps will play two special EP release shows in NYC on Oct. 3 at Pete’s Candy Story and October 14 at Culture Lab.

Alongside the EP announcement, Sam Phelps has released the lead single “New York Newsstand Blues,” a tale of abandonment and everyday life he wrote after stumbling upon an empty Manhattan newsstand in the midst of the pandemic. With an easy groove Phelps’ soulful vocals tell the story of conflict in love and on the streets of NYC during the pandemic. Written by Sam Phelps, produced by Chance McCoy, the video was filmed by Chance McCoy and others.

On “New York Newsstand Blues” Phelps merges Americana with folk traditions with the modern urban storytelling of one of his heroes, the late Justin Townes Earl. It’s a rootsy, acoustic number featuring Phelps’ fingerpicking and haunting harmonica fills complimented by moody slide guitar by Laur Joamets.

Watch “New York Newsstand Blues”

On “Kentucky” Phelps confronts his complicated relationship with his home state and “Stand Up Guy” is a meditation on change and restlessness featuring some of his gorgeous fingerpicking. On “Leaving'” he shows off the tender vulnerability and delicate craft of his songs about past ghosts, farewells, and how one’s past is never far behind.

Born and raised in Pulaski County, Kentucky, Sam Phelps’ father gifted him his first guitar when he was 13 years old, and as soon as he heard Steve Earle’s “Billy Austin” for the first time, he knew that songwriting would one day be his calling. Sam writes songs that stop reality, that demand your attention, that force the listener to live in the world they’ve created.

Hunter Springs Road EP Track Listing