Song Spotlight: Johanna Samuels' Circles (a night at Zebulon)

I first crossed paths with Johanna Samuels in 2018. The first two encounters were at the Bootleg Theater. The first encounter was when she was opening up for The Wild Reeds and Allie Buckley (it was her residency night). Later on that year, she had her own residency at the venue. I caught her again in 2019 and then venues shut down. It took a few years, but I crossed paths with her once again for her 2023 album release party that I covered for Buzzbands. The night was held at Zebulon. Fast forward to 2026 and I noticed that she was having a record release party for her third studio album Sorry, Kid. It was also being held at Zebulon (a Sid the Cat night). Buzzbands has gone into semi-retirement mode so I covered this particular night for US Rocker Music. You can read that review if you so wish.

Johanna Samuels at Zebulon

She played all the songs off the album except for the short outro "Indelible Within Her," which is a recording of the sound of birds. Who knows, perhaps this recording was played at some point in the set and I just didn't notice. Her backing band included guitars, keyboards, drums and bass. Playing in the band was Dylan Rodrigue. She herself switched up between playing the keyboards and acoustic guitar. 

As mentioned in my US Rocker Music review, one of the highlights was the song "Rare (The Runner Song)." Madison Cunningham made a surprise appearance. She also sings on the recorded version of the song. What was fun to notice was what she did at the end of the night. When the band was prepping to play the encore, the Ben Kweller cover "Falling," Cunningham along with a friend went to the edge of the stage. Everyone else in the venue (previously hanging out at the California three feet distance from the stage rule), took their lead and stepped three feet closer.

Johanna Samuels at Zebulon

The Song Spotlight goes to "Circles." A song with beautiful melodies that sooth. She mentioned that she wrote the song when she was 19. I'm not sure that meant she also wrote the music at the time or not. The album itself is a mix of songs that she wrote at a much younger age and songs that were written more recently. Her press release mentioned that the circles represent how we can both have a sense of community while being at war all at the same time. It all just mixes together in a circle of life.  

Johanna Samuels at Zebulon

Voices and the cannons like the air that’s in my lungs

Setlist: White Limousine. The Kind One. Two People, the Moon. Bats. Full Story. Circles. Grade 11 (Sorry Kid). Rare (The Runner Song), Blue vs. Pinkerton. Do What I Can. Encore: Falling (Ben Kweller cover).