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She sang with Paul McCartney less than a month after having opened for Josh Turner. She has also sung backup for Mary J Blige and Josh Groban. A songwriter, she has an EP coming out this year. She performed in Las Vegas a week before this interview and then in Chicago a week after recording this episode. Samantha has been a performer at Busch Gardens theme park and sung in bands that have opened for the likes of Rick Springfield and Brandie Carlisle. She has been singing professionally for almost eleven years and plays guitar and is learning ukulele.

Notable Guest Quotes

“We didn’t expect it to blow up media-wise.  We were just excited that it happened, and we posted what we had, as a picture and video just to show our friends and be, like, ‘This is crazy, like, we just hung out and sang and performed with Paul McCartney.’  And, I think the video that our band leader had posted on YouTube caught attention somewhere, and once that caught then it just went and kept going viral.”

“I knew if they knew what key (‘Saw Her Standing There’) was in, that we could pull it off.  And we had never played that song before, so, it was gonna be a surprise if we could pull it off.  I knew we could do it, though.”

“A lot of things in the music business, and I’m sure people know, is a lot about networking.  You have to kind of get in touch with the right people… It’s a big web of networking, in a sense.”

“The day itself was awesome.  We got there early and we got to watch their band do their sound check, which was awesome to see, like, actual professional artists, musicians, up close and personal, seeing how things are done and taken care of.”

“There’s a couple things where they’ll get to know my name, but, all in all… This was all so unexpected anyways and that experience is, like, one of those experiences that no one will ever have a like experience, so, even if nothing came from that – social media or fame… - that experience in itself was just enough, if that makes any sense.”

“You work hard and you’re professional, and people are gonna make you go a long way.”

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot with learning to perform different genres of music, performing while dancing, and just getting a handle on being able to sing vocal harmonies, so (Busch Gardens) has been a great growing place for someone to start out… if they’re coming from school or college, it’s a great place to start out and it’s a great place to work as well.”

“There’s so many people that would kill to be in your shoes, even performing in this bar where nobody’s watching, because they’re sitting at a desk and they’re at home on the weekends practicing their songs wishing they could be out there.  So when you look at the big picture like that you have to be really grateful for what you even have, even if that one guy in the corner is listening and nobody else is ‘cause they’re all talking over you.  That one guy is enjoying you and he’s there to listen to you, so you have to kind of put it in perspective like that.”

“I like to have completely everything memorized when I go into a gig because I like to be able to connect with the audience and just actually perform.  I feel like you can’t really perform fully if you’re staring at a paper or an iPad.”

“The point of music in performing is to connect with the audience, and if it’s not your reason then I’m not really sure why you’re doing music.”

“It’s very good to stay completely hydrated as a vocalist and get proper rest and warm up and warm downs after your gigs to take care of it as well.”

Songs on this episode

"Low and Dirty"
"Devil in Red Shoes"