Sam Robbins
New England-based artist Sam Robbins has just revealed the leading single off his forthcoming album So Much I Still Don’t See. Produced by Seth Glier, the new single “What a Little Love Can Do” is about living in the moment and appreciating all the beautiful things life and love can offer.
"The song was written from a moment. I had spent most of the year on the road, and had just made it back to Nashville from a long run of shows when I heard that there had been a shooting near my house. I was home alone all day after an amazing trip, visiting places that felt so different from where I had grown up in NH, and I started strumming. The song just flowed from there, and I think that's where the simple, direct nature of the lyrics and message came from - just trying to be in the moment and capture my feelings in a very divided world,” he says.
Sam Robbins is currently on tour, click here to see his upcoming shows, and make sure to go see him if you can !
"What a Little Love Can Do" is perfectly written and produced, and it’s a must listen. One of the best records I’ve heard lately, for sure. It is now available everywhere so make sure to stream it !
Photo credit: Joe Navas
Hi Sam, how are you? What's your story?
Hey! I’m great! I’m a New Hampshire native and touring singer songwriter… I grew up in Portsmouth, a little coastal town in NH, and gathered musical inspiration from the rich little music scene in the area. There were lots of open mics, little places to see music and great people around that helped me on my way… I didn’t come from a hugely musical family, but they were very supportive of me and always let me find my own way.
Do you remember your earliest musical memory?
Like I wrote above, my experience with music growing up was always as something on the side, in the background… but I do remember when I was young and was driving around the white mountains in NH with my dad, and we stopped a little lodge to take the “cog railway” up Mt. Washington. There was an old man playing guitar and singing in the lodge (I remember distinctly that I thought he looked like Santa…) and someone requested a song called “Country Roads”. I had never heard this song, and hadn’t really WATCHED many people play guitar and sing. I will never forget this guy, and the first time I heard that song… it has such an amazing melody, especially that soaring chorus, and it just grabbed me. I was ENAMORED with this man singing at the base of the mountain. I wish I knew who he was!
What did you grow up listening to?
I grew up in a time when singer songwriters like Jason Mraz and John Mayer were ruling the charts, and that was my first look into the pop side of singer songwriter-land, but I feel like a deep part of my musical bones came from driving around in the mountains with my dad when all he had in the truck was a box set of 70’s singer songwriter CD’s. People like James Taylor, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin… they reached something deep in me! That gray area of emotion that is so present in those songs… the way that it isn’t all happy or all sad, it’s in between… something about that really touched me at a young age.
When did you know you could sing?
Deep down, I think I always wanted to be a singer. I remember when I was very young and I would hear melodies in songs that my mom would have playing on the CD player, West Side Story and things like that, and I would secretly try to sing the melodies to myself. It was hard to sort of “come out” as a singer. It felt oddly embarrassing? I didn’t know anyone who was a singer, didn’t have any immediate role models, but deep down I just… had to. When I was 13 or 14, I started to sing around the house as I started to learn how to play guitar. I remember learning Bob Dylan songs and gathering the strength to sing them a little louder in the living room after school. Maybe loud enough that someone else in the house could hear!
Something about Bob Dylan’s vocals, and his COMMITMENT to his vocals, really inspired me. I think I’ve realized that part of being a performer, and maybe particularly a singer, is to be okay with embarrassing yourself. Getting up and singing in front of people is still hard sometimes, but it is so empowering at the same time. The feelings go hand in hand!
When did you realize you had to become an artist and release your original music?
I think this was something that sort of came naturally to me. As I was starting to sing, the songs came with it. I had been a drummer at the beginning, and so there was a sense of rhythm that was guiding me. Looking back, I think that’s why the writing came quickly… to me, rhythm is really everything. There is natural rhythm in the words we speak and sing, and since I had spent my formative musical years as a drummer, adding melody was much easier.
I remember I was 16 and I entered a singer songwriter contest in NH… it was an hour away, and I showed up and actually won! I won with the first two songs I had written, and I was able to record them at a great studio. That was my first time working in a studio and really trying to record my own music, which was an unbelievable experience and really an unbelievable gift.
Who are some of your biggest inspirations?
So many of those 70’s singer songwriters really hold a place in my heart. I do remember distinctly when I first heard “Don’t Think Twice, it’s Alright” by Bob Dylan. His early music in the early 60’s, mostly up to Highway 61 Revisited, reaaalllllyyy touched me. His delivery and commitment to the lyrics was so inspiring… and not for anything, the chord choices feel so deliberately chosen to perfectly frame the lyrics. The music is amazingly well written. And then he packages it all up in a way that makes it seem like he doesn’t care and is super loose!
Writers like James Taylor, Jackson Browne… I love them. But I also love guitarists like Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel… in the past few years I’ve dove deeper into that side of things, and I absolutely love arranging songs for solo acoustic guitar. Chet Atkins’s TOUCH on guitar is just so amazing. It’s so flawless, it’s like watching a ballet dancer.
"What a Little Love Can Do" is your latest single - what's the inspiration/story behind this song?
“What a Little Love Can Do" is the first single because I think it really encapsulates the energy of the entire album. This song, along with the rest of the songs on the album, was a “flow” song. I didn’t have an idea of “I’m going to write a song today!” I sat down and started playing, and this song appeared to me. I had just gotten home to Nashville from a long time out on the road, and there had been a tragedy in the city, not far from where I lived. I was home alone all day, and it was one of those things where it brought on a feeling of “what can I do?”. I sat down and started strumming.
So much of this song encapsulates the feelings that I’ve had through my adventures on the road in the past few years – driving 45,000+ miles per year, playing small venues and being able to meet people face to face that grew up in very different areas from me… playing in rural Kentucky, then the next weekend playing in Alabama, then playing in Brooklyn, then in FL… as cliché as it might sound, all of these experiences have made me feel closer to the people I’ve met along the way, even if we’re different.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this song? When did you start working on it?
The process for this song was a little different than the other songs on the album! I was sitting with a guitar while the producer, Seth Glier, was at the piano… we were sitting there, thinking of how to make this song stand out, when we decided that we would have this song be piano-based. I had been playing live on piano for the past month or so, and we decided to carry that energy into the recording. I had started writing it a year prior, and right from the beginning, I could hear the production… I needed someone like Seth to really make it happen. I love how it came out! Warm and full sounding, just as I heard it as I was writing it.
What did you feel when recording this song?
It felt great! This one really felt like we were a band… it was me, Seth, and bass player Reed Sutherland all in the room together, and it just felt so great. I think we really captured the energy of the song… togetherness, being right there with each other… that’s what the song is about, and that’s what the recording was about.
What made you want to release "What a Little Love Can Do" as a single?
I wanted to release “What a Little Love Can Do” as a single because it feels like the perfect kickoff to my new album, So Much I Still Don’t See. The album is centered around the small connections built every day when we’re with people, up close, face-to-face. “What a Little Love Can Do” is the best distillation of that idea on the album.
What can you tell us about your upcoming album?
It’s by far my favorite representation of “me” that I’ve ever recorded. It feels exactly like how I want my music to sound… it’s me, sitting in a chair, playing and singing my songs, but it’s MORE. There’s a little more instrumentation, a little more padding, but it gets the feeling across through and through. I’m so proud of it, and so proud of the message – it is an uplifting album in a depressing time, or at least it’s trying to be! I think the more I’ve traveled, the more people I’ve met and the more I’ve done, the less I know. That’s where So Much I Still Don’t See comes from.
As an artist, what are the biggest challenges? And what's the best part about being an artist?
I think finding your way as an artist in today’s music industry is really challenging. It’s hard to know what to focus on – there are so many rabbit holes to go down, so many different paths and ways to find success today, I think the hardest part for me has been deciding where to focus my energy! And that leads me to the best part – I’ve really decided to focus on personal connections, building a smaller but stronger base of supporters. It’s more of a partnership feeling rather than trying to gather “fans”, if that makes sense. They feel like friends!
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
This goes hand in hand with the above answer. To me, I’m not sure if there is a “music industry” anymore really… there’s nothing to sell! The industry was always focused on physical products to sell, music that could be held, viewed and sold. That just doesn’t exist in the same way, especially in the larger industry. The bottom fell out!
So for me, I think that building that audience of supporters, patrons that will be there for you through thick and thin, is what the music industry is about these days. It’s the people industry! If I could change one thing… maybe Spotify would pay a little more? But I do understand their perspective as well. It’s a toughie, but a little more payment from streaming would be amazing.
What is the proudest moment of your career so far?
I’ve been lucky enough to work with Music Therapy Retreats, writing songs with veterans. It has been the most amazing thing, and my favorite thing I get to do in music. Being able to guide someone through writing their first song and to see how it lights up their eyes has just been so incredible.
What advice would you give to artists out there?
I have a song about this on my album!! It’s called “People Gonna Talk”. It’s advice that I wish I had had for myself when I was younger… I think looking back, just being strong with myself and my convictions has been the best thing. Trusting in myself and my intuition to know the next steps. I spent a long time being pulled in different directions – so many people telling me that I should do this, do that, everything, and I walked down a lot of paths that deep down, I always knew weren’t for me. I could’ve wasted a lot less time if I had trusted myself!
In your opinion, what would make the world a BETTER place?
I think a little less time on social media would make people feel a lot more connected. I for one am completely addicted to social media, but when I get out into the world, on the road and really being with people, I’m reminded of the good in people no matter who they are.
What are your goals for this new year?
To get this album out into the world! I am so so proud of it, and I’ve never felt this kind of energy behind a recording before… I just am so proud of it. Also, I want to stop biting my nails, maybe try to relax a little bit more… ya know, the easy stuff!
Connect with Sam: