WINNIPEG’S FOLK CROONER SAM SINGER RELEASES ALBUM, WHERE THE RIVERS DO
Sam Singer has recently unveiled his album, Where The Rivers Do.
Channeling a quarter of a lifetime’s worth of elusive conversation and fruitful observation into 11 tracks of pensive Prairie sunsets, Where The Rivers Do finds a contemplative Singer wading beyond the shores of expectation toward rockier islets of springtime optimism and autumnal regret.
Written in 2022, across borders and within moving vehicles, Singer’s latest album is a focused scrapbook of reminiscence – each song drawn from sensational, natural, and emotional experiences that only the songwriter can put to paper.
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Sam Singer and I’m from the large town of Winnipeg, Manitoba. I have been writing songs and recording them since I was 12/13ish and writing songs and recording them I remain now at 26.
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
I just released a full-length album on June 4th called Where the Rivers Do, which is 11 songs that have found themselves together by divine chance and tales marked by the fragility of life that separates us from what is here and what is there this life, or some other. If that makes any sense at all.
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
I typically google “ChatGPT” and enter the songs I have actually written into the chat box and then ask the AI software to create a “Sam Singer-esque” piece of work and I find that it really lightens my workload and creates something equal to – if not better than what I could write.
I’m never really sure how sarcasm or bs’ing reads but I would say it is different every time. It can be the smallest thing that triggers a song for me. I was on the phone a couple of months ago with my girlfriend at the time and she told me she was in this place called Peace River she described where she was walking and the scenery and we talked for a bit after. After we spoke I went to the piano and then I just had these lines immediately.
She walks in Peace River
Her hair and her skin
You tell her you needed
You needed a friend
And the earth is not silent
I heard my old voice
The voice of a child
And a child has no choice
And so, a lot of my songwriting comes from being open to the world around me, not that every song is about that by any means.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
I will be making two more music videos for this release! Which I always love to do with some friends of mine who are extremely good at what they do. I am going to be announcing some more touring dates a little bit further into the summer to get the album out on the road with my full band. In addition to that, I am playing an album release show at a great venue in Winnipeg called The West End Cultural Centre on November 22nd backed by a band I’ve put together called “The Beautiful Movers Orchestra” which is a stupid, broken dream I can finally live out.
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
The next Super Bowl ring… just kidding. One that is special for me is that I recorded this album with Micah Erenberg (The Secret Beach) and I was so in love with his songs before I met him and really just a big fan of his and now it’s weird because I have received texts from him praising my songwriting. And so when I think about the whole scope of it and how far I’ve come and how much longer I’ve yet to go, I always want to respect the boy that I was, who would think all this stuff is pretty cool now, and not forget what I am aiming and have been aiming to do.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
I’ll name a few and start with some Edmonton folks… Sam the Living, Smokey, Aaron Parker, some others (non-Edmonton) would be aforementioned Secret Beach who is putting out a full-length in August and I’d also say another Winnipegger in Tinge, who has an extremely unique voice and is destined for very big things.