MTV
Samantha mentioned in an MTV article

-KFOG
Samantha to performed LIVE on the KFOG Morning Show on Monday August 7th.

The Hot Spot- Glide Magazine (Winter 2005)
"The girl with the longest name in the scene, soulful pop rock songstress Samantha Stollenwerck is saturating the scene with her self-coined “Cali-Soul” from Wakarusa to Bonnaroo and beyond. After recently playing four nights as part of The Everyone Orchestra featuring Steve Kimock, Samantha is looking forward to performing two nights as the opening act for the Dave Matthews Band at Shoreline Amphitheatre in September." Full Article

All Purpose Rhythm Guitar- Play Guitar! Magazine (Winter 2005)
"The most important thing I've discovered about rhythm guitar is that less is more... Letting the song breathe is better than overplaying." Full Article.
Cover Shot.

Cool Spins- MIX Magazine (Summer 2005)
San Francisco Bay Area-based singer/songwriter Samantha Stollenwerck caused a mild sensation at SXSW this year, and this well-made indie album shows why: She is a magnetic singer and an interesting songwriter. At times, Stollenwerck's style recalls Tuesday Night Music Club-era Sheryl Crow, with a sort of earthy folk charm that occasionally veers into rock and R&B, and obviously personal songs that are still easy to connect with. The mix puts her singing up front and mostly unadorned, and that's as it should be: The vocals carry the album. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a song or two from this disc turn up on One Tree Hill or The O.C. and for Stollenwerck to be signed by a major label. She's clearly ready for prime time.
Producers: Jordan Feinstein, Stollenwerck, Gregory Haldan and Jim Greer. Engineers: Jonathan Chi, John-Paul McClean. Mixing by Chi, Stollenwerck and Feinstein. Studio: In the Pocket (Forestville, Calif.). Mastering: Robert Hadley. — Blair Jackson
Read the full page.


She's got a voice and she's not afraid to use it. A local singer takes a shot. San Francisco Chronicle Datebook (3.31.05)
Austin, Texas -- Samantha Stollenwerck might not have been offered an evening slot at the South by Southwest music conference, but she'll do her damnedest to make sure her afternoon showcase at the tiny Momo's bar, at the wrong end of Sixth Street, is the best show of her young life.
It took all of Stollenwerck's money and frequent-flier miles to shuttle her and her band, the Ritual, to this most famous of pop music showcase festivals recently, where agents, record-company execs and producers hopscotch from venue to venue looking for the Next Big Thing. But it was worth any amount of time and money to the aspiring San Francisco singer-songwriter. Read the article.

Used with Samantha Stollenwerck- Jambands.com (Oct 2005)
A walk through the used record bins of some of the country’s finest music stores with musicians, both famous and infamous.
Nearly 40 years ago, a fiery blues singer from Port Arthur, Texas moved to San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury and set the city ablaze with her soaring soulful voice and southern charm. Channeling her idols Billie Holliday and Bessie Smith, Janis Joplin overwhelmed audiences with her sexy sultriness and balls-to-the-wall attitude, a rare dichotomy not found in rock music today.
Samantha Stollenwerck’s not from the Gulf Coast (San Diego, actually), nor does she share the late singer’s penchant for Southern Comfort, but her bluesy voice and ballsy attitude are Joplin through and through. Read the interview.

Parting Shot- Sports Section, San Diego Union Tribune
The lyrics to Bay Area singer-songwriter Samantha Stollenwerck's new song "Balco Blues," courtesy of The San Francisco Chronicle:
"Now everybody wishes they could hit a ball out of the park
but not everybody wants to be swimming with the sharks.
Well Mr. Bonds, I take my hat off to you today.
I'll trade my guitar for your bat and then let's play.
Now you've got no excuse, now you can play the Balco Blues."
See the full page.

Label Me Confused- San Francisco Magazine (Summer 2005)
Ever since humans first banged on rocks with dinasour bones, music critics have spliced and diced their sounds into categories (call it rock n' bones). A guide to several hot new musical genres coming out of the Bay. -Dan Strachota See the Guide.

Happy Go Samantha- Vail Daily (July 2005)
VAIL - Driving down the 101 along the California coast with the top down and not a cloud in the sky, you could throw Jack Johnson's "In Between Dreams" in the CD player or you could put on Samantha Stollenwerck's "Square One."
A rising, young singer/songwriter and guitarist, the blonde beauty from San Francisco may just be Johnson's female counterpart. It's the kind of music you want to listen to on a sunny day, when you're feeling good or on your front porch watching the sunset. Read the Article.


Cali Soul Comes Barefoot to the Village - Grooview / By Mark Steele (July 2005)
With two rockin’ shows last week, Mountain Village is well on its way to becoming a musical hotspot. The little hamlet keeps it up this week with a great show from a fast rising female rocker from California named Samantha Stollenwerck for the Sunset Concert Series. And the following weekend, the Village hosts its first music festival, Cajun Fest, featuring all things hot and spicy from New Orleans, including tasty grub, the quintessential funk trio Porter/Batiste/Stoltz and the rocking Gamble Brothers.
Stollenwerck is more than a sweet, beautiful girl from San Francisco. She is on a mission, giving a certain intensity to her laid back California style. When I talked to her last week, she was fending off a cold due to lack of sleep, getting ready to play a gig later that night and then wake up early the next morning to make the four and a half hour drive to play an early set at the High Sierra Music Festival. She is serious about maintaining her cool, but she is also serious about the music business. Read the article.

 

High Sierra Music Festival Review- Jason Gershuny (Tuesday, July 19, 2005)
...Samantha Stollenwerck, one of the most inspiring songwriters on the scene today, and the Ritual graced the Grandstand Friday morning with a powerful array of uplifting songs that left a broad smile on my face, and a little boogie in my bootie. A.L.O.’s Dan Lebowitz even added some of his slick guitar stylings to the set to add some spice to enhance the musical concoction. Samantha and The Ritual also had another set at the Americana stage that showcased Maktub’s Reggie Watts with some vocal assistance. Samantha could also be seen adding her incredibly powerful vocal talents to some terrific jams at the amazing late night Everyone Orchestra set, where it seemed that at points there may have been fifteen dynamic members on stage at once, as well as an appearance at the Garaj Mahal late night festival closing set. Samantha has such a powerful stage presence, and is a newer act (at least for me) that left me truly inspired... Read the Article.

 

Summer Stars- 10 Bands to Watch- Relix Magazine (June 2005)
Dubbing her style Cali-Soul, this San Francisco singer has become a fortified member of the Bay Area's song-driven hippie rock revival alongside pals New Monsoon and Tea Leaf Green. Along with her band the Ritual Stollenwerck has also helped restore the genre's folkier tendencies, as documented on her debut album Square One. See full page.

Scene and Heard: Woman at Work- Relix Magazine (June 2005)
It may sound like an oxymoron to say that a female singer/songwriter's got balls. But Samantha Stollenwerck, the leader of the rootsy, soulful rock group Samantha and the Ritual, plays with confidence and guts- the very "balls" usually reserved for male frontment. Not that her songs are all that hard- the Southern California native's got a comfortable spot in the Cali-Soul genre, playing the kind of upbeat songs that have made Jack Johnson a headline performer... She also jams hard, extending her songs with keyboard breakdowns, busted-chop guitar solos and full-band freak-outs. Read the article.

 

Rocking the 'Cali-Soul' Sound: Local artist is opening act at Footstock- SF Examiner (May 2005)
"The big time" is looming large for local singer-songwriter Samantha Stollenwerck... While music has always been Stollenwerck's first love (she grew up listening to the Allman Brothers and Paul Simon, both of whom clearly influenced the laid-back vibe of her self-described "Cali-Soul" sound), it wasn't until just a few years ago that the U.C. Berkeley graduate decided to shelve her plans to take the corporate world by storm and pursue her dream of making music professionally. Read the article.

Owl Magazine Interview (May 2005)
"I write pop songs but there's this element of letting go," says Samantha Stollenwerck, as she zips out the window and races towards a lurking meter maid. I immediately make two observations: 1. She didn't use the door and 2. She doesn't look both ways when she crosses the street? "That was close," she sighs and hops back in through the window. I'm pretty sure she could have talked her way out of the ticket. To pimp a line from Jerry Maguire, Samantha had me at, "Are you Jason?"
Without knowing it the singer/songwriter with a Joplin-esque tongue exudes an enviable coolness caught somewhere between devilish spontaneity and Aphrodite charm. One thing is for certain: if she can't break in through the front door, she'll hop in through the window. Read the interview.

Review of Austin City Limits Music Festival- No Depression Issue #48 (Nov. 04)...Though Saturday is a complete sellout at 75,000 (over 200,000 altogether attended the festival), its content is shallow when held against the other
two days. It pays to arrive early on Sunday, though Samantha Stollenwerck's "Cali-soul" is as delicious as a late-morning Bloody Mary, even if the buzz goes unnoticed by all but a couple of dozen gathered for her 40 minutes. Stollenwerck's phenomenal, near gospel reading of Van Morrison's "And It Stoned Me" alone justifies my trip from Denver." Brian T. Atkinson

Hip to be Square: Daily Candy (2.16.05)
Ashlee lip-syncs. Avril has the rage. And Britney dresses like Slutty McSlutterson.
Female musicians these days are hard to take seriously (and even harder to listen to). Thank goodness for local singer-songwriter Samantha Stollenwerck, who honed her own self-coined "Cali-Soul" music from such influences as Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Chris Robinson, and Joni Mitchell. Blame her English major for the profound lyrics, which go perfectly with her folky-pop sound... She's a girl who rocks. No overproduced tracks. No irritating female-empowerment messages. And no exposed butt cleavage.

StyleFile- Runway to Reality: Add a Little Rock 'n Roll to a Classic Gold Dress- San Francisco Magazine (Nov 2004)
Inspired by the likes of Paul Simon, Van Morrison and Aretha Franklin, California native Samantha Stollenwerck uses the term "Cali-Soul" to describe her pop rock music. She's the free-spirited lead singer of the band the Ritual, and she recently completed her first full-length record, which is as sweet as tupelo honey.

Stollenwerck Gets Around: She's Being Compared to Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell- Mill Valley Herald (12.21.04)Singer, songwriter, guitarist Samantha Stollenwerck carries her audiences away on smoky trails of her raspy voice.
Her shows are festivals of sorts: good spirited fun. Fresh from the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco, Stollenwerck gives Mill Valley an opportunity to hear what many are calling the next great voice of California. Stollenwerck and her band The Ritual perform at the Sweetwater for the first time in a year on December 29. most of the songs on the set list that night will be originals from their first album, "Square One," due out in February. Stollenwerck's style is a fusion of folk, rock, soul and gospel, She had been compared to Janis Joplin and Joan Baez and her influences stretch from Simon and Garfunkel to Led Zeppelin to Nina Simone.
Within the last few months she has played at a December 11th Rex Foundation benefit with Bob Weir, opened for Karl Denson's Tiny Universe at the Fillmore Auditorium and performed at the Austin City Limits Music Festival along with big names like Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Elvis Costello and Modest Mouse. In the Pocket Records will officially release "Square One" in February, with a CD release part on February 4 at the Elbo Room in San Francisco. A slew of special musical guests will also perform. Read the interview.


Samantha and the Ritual with Jim Bianco- SF Examiner (12.8.04)
Local minstrel-on-the-rise Samantha Stollenwerck describes her earthy roots-pop as "Cali soul." And while her sound is clearly influenced by the Golden State's musical landscape, which is as diverse as its geographic makeup, the laid-back and, some might say, summer breezy vibe of her debut album "Square One" (In the Pocket) will endear her even to listeners outside this crunchy, granola-ey bubble of ours. -Bill Picture

In The Spotlight: Our New Favorite Band- Jambase (Oct. 04)
With a versatile style and sound she calls “Cali-Soul,” Samantha Stollenwerck's new album, Square One beautifully fuses Americana, pop and soul. And by writing songs which articulate entirely personal emotions in a such a simple, poetic way, she and her band, The Ritual, have infiltrated our headphones.

 

Samantha and the Ritual with Indecision- SF Examiner (9.9.04)
Local singer/songwriter Samantha Lee Stollenwerck is celebrating her birthday and the upcoming release of her debut full-length, "Square One" (In The Pocket), at The Independent on Saturday. The California native was invited to play at this summer's High Sierra Music Festival and just got back from wooing jaded New Yorkers with her upbeat "Cali soul" sound. Next week, she's off to Texas to perform at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, where she'll share the stage with music biz luminaries, including The Pixies, Elvis Costello and Sheryl Crow. -Bill Picture



Soundgirl Artist: Samantha and The Ritual- SoundGirl (9.5.04)
At first listen, Samantha Stollenwerk comes across like a modern day soul mama, equal parts Janis Joplin and Joan Baez. Her music is simultaneously breezy and gritty, ranging from simple acoustic singer-songwriter fare to full-blown roots rock. Citing everyone from Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Robert Plant as influences, Samantha makes music that is much more than a simple redux of classic American blues. It is, as she describes it, her own breed of Cali-soul, a warm mix of honest, folky pop music. Backed by her band The Ritual, Samantha writes songs that wear their influences on their sleeves poppy, sunny affairs that are at once earthy and jammy, while always remaining effortlessly catchy.   Upon meeting Samantha in person, I’m pleased to find that she is as immediately as easygoing and likable as her music. Read the Interview ... -T. Cole Rachel



Samantha and the Ritual- Image Magazine (7.04)
Samantha Stollenwerck is going to be a star. In fact she's well on her way. She's played with some of the biggest names in the business, and she's receiving major critical attention. Samantha plans to tour nationally in support of her debut album entitled "Square One." The record is set to be released by the Northern California based label, In The Pocket Records. Samantha's band, The Ritual, consists of Jordan Feistein on keyboards, Chad Zammuto on percussion, Steve Adams on bass, and Brian Fishler on drums. Samantha also collaborated on three tracks with members of New Orleans funk phenomena, Galactic, including Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio and Rich Vogegl, as well as producer team, the Rondo Brothers, who are Jim Greer and Brandon Arnovick. Look for this potential powerhouse and her extremely tight band or find out more at www.samanthamusic.com.



Samantha and the Ritual in San Francisco- Jambase (1.9.04)
Who is the last female singer and songwriter to come out of San Francisco and attract fans from the jam music scene and pop audience alike? If you can't think of any such artist off the top of your head, then you're not alone. But at San Francisco's Tongue & Groove on Saturday night, January 9th, it was very clear there's a new star rising in the local music community. Samantha and The Ritual are emerging into the spotlight, and they are for real—-each musician in the band talented in their own right. Read More... -Jon Gelbard