Top 5 Moments That Made RNB Singer Sam Era Grow
R&B/pop singer Sam Era has released her full-length debut ‘Songs For The Broken Heart.’ This release is the culmination of a journey that has been many years in the making for Sam. We sit down with the singer and she reveals 5 moments that has made her grow.
1. Getting dumped over the phone by my ex’s new girlfriend
We had been in a kind of on and off limbo for some time, but I was shocked when I called my ex to see if he was going to go to our friends annual end of summer party, and another girl answered. She said pretty point blank, that she was his girlfriend now and I didn’t need to call his number ever again. And I actually never did. So that moment and the lack of closure behind it was kind of the inspiration for writing the entire “Songs for the Broken Heart” album.
2. Singing my first big solo in choir in 3rd grade
My school annually put on a production from DARE and there was this big solo song called “Why?” and every year one student was selected to sing the whole song, completely solo. When it was finally my turn to audition I was so nervous I was shaking, but finding out I got the part was what made me realize I really wanted to sing and that I was actually good at it.
3. Posting my “Crazy In Love” cover
When Fifty Shades of Grey came out I was mesmerized by the ambient version of the song Beyonce had released. I knew I wanted to cover it. At the time all I had was a loop pedal, garage band, and an acoustic guitar. I did the whole thing as a live recording and it’s still one of my favorite, most organic things I’ve ever recorded. After that I got to go to San Francisco and meet some amazing artists on the Polydor lineup and that was so inspiring, I returned from that trip and immediately sought out a professional studio to record out of. The feedback from that cover is what made me start taking a career in music seriously.
4. Meeting my producer Devon Hancock
We met kind of at random at a studio I was recording out of and literally never talked to each other, but he would sometimes sit on on my sessions. Flash forward to a few years later and he is now my sole producer and songwriting partner. Not much else to say about it other than that the guy has single handedly defined my sound and I couldn’t be more grateful to him for it!
5. Writing the song “Close” from Songs for the Broken Heart
I wrote the song about 5 or 6 years ago and it was the first song I wrote with this new type of sound I was going for. It was my transition from someone who mostly did covers to someone who was focusing on their own original music. Teaching myself guitar at 17, which I still play very poorly unfortunately, was definitely the first big step to becoming a songwriter. But writing “Close” showed me I could write a full song on my own that not only I liked, but that the listener could enjoy as well.