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.