In Their Words

From reviewers and dj's

"Imagine some folky music set to a country upbeat figure layered between a bluegrass indulgence swabbed in Delta swamp music & add a quirky vocal. It adds up to the clever work of Sam Bergquist. Bergquist has mapped out a route of his own. Standard notes from a mandolin, pedal steel guitar & brushes on drums, yet, somehow it comes out like something you’ve never heard before." - John Aspice, Americana Highway  


 Sam Bergquist has a sharp eye and an ear tuned to the twists and turns people take, which keeps his songwriting down to earth and a cut above the rest.” -  Marilyn Rea Beyer, Host WFMT’s Folkstage and The Midnight Special, Chicago                                                                                                                     
"Sam Bergquist has a take on roots music that wonderfully balances grit and whimsy." - Noah Schaffer, WBUR Radio, Boston

"Stylistically, Bergquist's presentation incorporates Todd Snider and John Prine's robust embrace of irony to make salient views appealing within the context of a song." - Donald Teplyske, Country Standard Time

Sam Bergquist is a Boston-based songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. His songs tend to arrive in a familiar language — Americana, more or less — but they don’t always behave once they get there. He started out in the 1990s Boston scene, playing clubs, subway platforms, and whatever spaces were available. He made two early cassettes on analog, back before digital was a thing. His first cassette sold over a hundred copies at a summer camp in northern Minnesota where Bergquist worked as a counselor. In the 2000s and 2010s, he spent a long stretch with the country blues band Loose Change, playing regularly at local hot spots like Johnny D’s and the House of Blues. 

In 2022 Bergquist retired from over thirty years of teaching elementary school students and got focused again on songwriting.  His 2023 EP Wiser Then was described by The Big Takeover as “a subtly brilliant EP." In 2025, he released Racing Down the Valley, produced by Dave Westner (Peter Wolf, Dropkick Murphys, Session Americana). Lonesome Highway noted its “high standard” musicianship.

His latest album, Devils & Doves (out March 13, 2026), continues in that direction. Co-produced with Westner, and featuring a group of talented Boston area players, it focuses on small, ordinary moments where something could shift — and sometimes does, though not always in ways you expect. Bergquist calls them “topical songs with a little levity." Some have called them "grit with wit.”  Bergquist also likes nature, and that pops up a lot in his tunes.

The album reached the Top #10 of the Alt-Country charts and top #25 of the FAI Folk Charts. It seems to be finding people. Or people are finding it. 

Devils & Doves

Sam Bergquist

Devils and Doves finds Sam Bergquist grounded yet still reaching, writing from the fault lines where clarity and calm give way to curiosity and confusion. The title captures that dance of opposites—devils and doves, Read more
Devils and Doves finds Sam Bergquist grounded yet still reaching, writing from the fault lines where clarity and calm give way to curiosity and confusion. The title captures that dance of opposites—devils and doves, conflict and peace, fight and forgiveness. It’s a reminder that life’s contradictions are what make it real, and Bergquist leans into them with equal measures of wit and warmth. As he puts it, “Satire’s always felt like the best way to shine a light on the heavy stuff.”
There’s bite and irony in “Landfill,” a tongue-in-cheek jab at our throwaway culture. There’s a quiet ache in “In a Box,” where a lonely fiddle leans into the longing to be heard. “Smoke” rides a playful beat as two lovers confront relationship confusion in a metaphorical swirl of smoke, water, and fire. “Louisiana Lightning” eases into something darker—a man facing old ghosts and the weight of battles that won’t stay buried.“Rifle and the Dove” flips the tension on its head, turning an old fable into a modern parable of love and acceptance. With its refrain—“She her hers, he him his, they them theirs”—it celebrates identity in all its forms,
Nature threads through the album like a steady pulse. “Redwood Tree” grew out of a hike in a national forest. “Goin’ Out Walkin’” is pure stomp and spark—a mandolin-and-fiddle shake-off of the digital fog. “Song on the Wind” takes a gentler turn, treating songwriting itself like fishing for something unseen, waiting for the right melody to tug the line. And “Envy Blues” brings it back to the self with a grin, letting go of comparison.
Bergquist sees the album as a wide-open musical map. “This album is a reflection of my interest in all kinds of music,” he says, “and I was lucky enough to have some wonderful musicians help me fold those influences into the sound.” It all lands on “New Day,” a love song glowing with gratitude and a little earned wisdom. “You never know where you’re gonna go,” he reminds us—life’s unpredictable, and that’s half the beauty. It’s a perfect send-off for a record that walks between light and shadow while staying grounded in the simple joy of being alive.

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