With her new band and music videos, Sam Johnston’s music career is taking off.
The blues, old-school country, and folk singer/songwriter who goes by the stage name SAMMY, united with her new band this past summer.
The new SAMMY and Band consist of bass player Jennie Davis, electric guitarist Jeff Davis, and drummer Drew Barrett.
“I’ve known Jennie for a long time,” Johnston explained. “She’s a known local bass player who is awesome.”
Recently, Johnston reached out to Davis to form a working partnership, and together they built the band with their local connections.
“The band is the most exciting thing for me right now,” Johnston said. “They are also all local artists which I really love.”
While the band has already played a few gigs, they are still working on their set list, writing more songs, and setting up shows for Toronto.
Johnston says she believes the sky is the limit for the new band.
“Having these guys is so awesome because we are all bringing different backgrounds of music together,” she said. “It’s so eclectic.”
The band took over Alleycats Music & Art in downtown Orillia last month to shoot music videos for their original song The Puppet, and a Beth Hart cover of Am I The One.
“It was all local artists involved,” Johnston said, noting that videographer Jeff Burbidge, audio recorder and mixer Nick Ljubicic, and audio master Kelton McEwen made the video at no cost to do the band a "favour."
Johnston says Alleycats was the perfect venue for the new music videos.
“It’s a really cool space,” she said. “It’s a well-known local space and a community centre for music.”
The 24-year-old Oro-Medonte native says tying her work back to the community where she was born and raised is very important to her.
“It’s obviously a vibrant arts scene here,” Johnston said. “It’s nice to continue to be involved.”
So far, the music videos have been a success. Both have nearly 200 views on YouTube.
"I think people are enjoying them,” Johnston said. “I think people are pleasantly surprised by the quality which I attribute to my friends who are pretty talented.”
For now, Johnston’s goal for the band is to have fun, develop more music together, and take the music they’ve already created together to a different level.
Johnston hopes that one day she and her band can make a career out of touring. However, for most beginner bands, the goal is to break even on tours.
“A lot of my gigs pay for my music stuff,” Johnston admits. “Steps are slow, but it’s all worth it because it’s something we are all passionate about doing.”
Johnston will have more time to invest in her band in the spring. She is set to graduate from the community music program at Wilfrid Laurier University in April.
