John K. Samson
Background information
Birth name	John Kristjan Samson
Born	1973 (age 51–52)
Origin	Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada
Genres	Folk punk,indie rock,post-punk,hardcore punk
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, bass
Years active	1980s–present
Labels	Epitaph,ANTI-

John Kristjan Samson (born 1973)^[1] is a Canadian musician fromWinnipeg,Manitoba. He is a singer-songwriter and best known as the frontman of the Canadianindie folk/rock bandThe Weakerthans. He also played bass in thepunk bandPropagandhi during the mid-1990s. Today, Samson is making music under his own name, John K. Samson. His latest solo album,Winter Wheat, was released in 2016.

In 1993, while still a member of Propagandhi, Samson released a fifteen-track solo album oncassette tape, entitledSlips and Tangles. In 1995, six of these songs were featured on asplit album shared with the now-defunct punk bandPainted Thin. Following the critical success of The Weakerthans, Samson's side of the split was re-released online byG7 Welcoming Committee as adigitalEP in 2006.

In 1995, also while still in Propagandhi, Samson released the song "Letter of Resignation" on a split withF.Y.P. Although credited to Propagandhi, Samson was the only band member to appear on the song. He later rerecorded "Letter of Resignation" on The Weakerthans' debut album,Fallow.

In 2006, he and his wifeChristine Fellows recordedThe Old House, an album intended as a Christmas gift for friends and family. They eventually released two songs, "Taps Reversed" and "Good Salvage", for airplay onCBC Radio 3 in 2007. Fellows and Samson also performed live on the network on March 17, 2007, to mark the final night of the network's terrestrial simulcast onCBC Radio 2. Both Samson and Fellows also participated in writing and performing music forClive Holden's multimedia projectTrains of Winnipeg.

In 2008, Samson collaborated with electronic musicianBlunderspublik andInuk throat singerNikki Komaksiutiksak on the song "Keewatin Arctic", as part of the collaborative music projectRecord of the Week Club.^[2]

Shortly afterward, Samson announced his first solo project since 1995'sLittle Pictures: a series of 7" releases about Manitoba roads, which he planned to release over the next 18 months. The first,City Route 85, was released on November 3, 2009, throughEpitaph andANTI-.^[3] In August 2010, Samson announced his next EP,Provincial Road 222, to be released on September 21.^[4] In December 2010, the Weakerthans performed four concerts in Winnipeg, one for each of their albums. In their final concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre, they performed all four of their albums in one night.

In 2011, Samson, Fellows andSandro Perri participated in theNational Parks Project, working with filmmakerDaniel Cockburn to produce and score a short film aboutOntario'sBruce Peninsula National Park.^[5]

On November 29, 2011, Anti- Records announced that Samson would be releasing his 'first full-length solo album',Provincial, on January 24, 2012.^[6]

He appears onMichael Feuerstack's 2014 albumSinger Songer, contributing vocals to the song "Friday Night Guard".^[7]

In 2015, Samson, Fellows, Ashley Au andJason Tait collaborated on the music forFor the Turnstiles, a dance performance byWinnipeg's Contemporary Dancers troupe inspired byNeil Young's 1974 albumOn the Beach.^[8]

On August 15, 2016, Samson announced that his second solo album,Winter Wheat, would be released on October 21, 2016.^[9] While technically a solo album,Winter Wheat features contributions by his Weakerthans bandmates Jason Tait andGreg Smith, and much of it was recorded by Weakerthans sound tech Cam Loeppky.

In 2018, Samson recorded a version of Fellows' "Saturday Night at Utopia Parkway" for a split single with American musicianKevin Devine.^[10] In 2019 he collaborated withSafia Nolin on a cover ofTaking Back Sunday's "Cute Without the E" for her EPxX3m0 $0ng$ 2 $!nG @L0nG 2Xx.^[11]

In February 2020, Samson wrote and released "Millennium for All", a song supporting the activist campaign against the new security restrictions at Winnipeg'sMillennium Library.^[12] He followed up in July with the single "Fantasy Baseball at the End of the World".^[13]

In February 2023, Fellows and Samson releasedHold Music, an album of almost entirely instrumental music except one song with vocals by Samson. The album was credited to Vivat Virtute, the name of Fellows' online music and crafts store.

Samson is also a founding member ofArbeiter Ring Publishing, a publishing collective. In 2012 he published hisLyrics and Poems, 1997-2012 with the press.

In 2006, Samson championedMiriam Toews' novelA Complicated Kindness in theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation's annualCanada Reads, and the novel went on to win the competition. In the 2007 edition of Canada Reads—an "all-star" competition pitting the five winning advocates from previous years against each other—Samson returned to championHeather O'Neill's novelLullabies for Little Criminals, which also won the competition.

In 2008 and 2009, Samson spent several weeks working at the CBC's Winnipeg studios as part of the production team for theCBC Radio 2 programThe Signal.^[14]

Samson was a writer in residence at the University of Manitoba in 2013. He has also been adjunct professor with the Creative Writing Program at theUniversity of British Columbia.

Samson andChristine Fellows frequently produce music forJonathan Goldstein's podcast "Heavyweight".^[15]

Samson is married to Canadian singer-songwriterChristine Fellows.^[16] Samson is aQuaker.^[17]

• Slips and Tangles – 1993
• Provincial – 2012
• Winter Wheat – 2016
• Hold Music – 2023 (withChristine Fellows as Vivat Virtute)

• Little Pictures – 1995
• City Route 85 – 2009
• Provincial Road 222 – 2010
• June First – 2023 (withChristine Fellows as Vivat Virtute)

• The Weakerthans

• Living people
• Canadian punk rock singers
• Canadian punk rock guitarists
• G7 Welcoming Committee Records artists
• Canadian people of Icelandic descent
• Canadian indie rock musicians
• Musicians from Winnipeg
• Folk punk musicians
• The Weakerthans members
• 20th-century Canadian male singers
• 21st-century Canadian poets
• Writers from Winnipeg
• Canadian male poets
• 20th-century Canadian guitarists
• 1973 births
• 21st-century Canadian guitarists
• 21st-century Canadian male writers
• Canadian male guitarists
• 21st-century Canadian male singers
• Grand Hotel van Cleef Records artists
• Epitaph Records artists
• Anti- (record label) artists
• Canadian male singer-songwriters
• Canadian Quakers
• 20th-century Quakers
• 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters
• 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters
• Singers from Manitoba

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