A new single release from Sam Stokes out a psychedelia-riddled soul performance that features such bountiful vocals blended with an acoustic guitar section that is alive and breathing as the entire song takes on a persona and you become more and more attached.
"Like A Feather" is a gorgeous single that encompasses the aesthetic of late 60s and early 70s classic rock embodiment and does so with such a natural approach that the track actually feels like something you could have been listening to for decades now.
Sam's delivery vocally is what makes this song So immensely addictive and so vibrant because she does her thing with loads of character and that's what you become connected to the more the song plays on.
I think one of my favorite things about this track as a whole, is the sheer fact that it feels like you just walked out of a live performance and saw her play right in front of your face because that energy that she captures is so real and genuine that it takes it effect on you.
Upon listening to this track, we had to dig a little bit deeper and as we did, we found that the single part of an upcoming full album release set for this October.
What's more, is that the artist actually released a paperback book with poetry and lyrics to go along with the album and that's available on Amazon.
So, you can clearly see where her heart is and that her passions lie in her ability to ooze creativity and get things off of her chest and the way she knows how to best.
Sam is the kind of artist that makes change and that does things at her own pace and in her own way. She is paving her path with her artistry, and she does it with very few boundaries which is a huge part of the beauty of the entire project.
"Like A Feather" is an amazing track to give you a feel for her presence as an artist and how she performs with the color that she does, but the full album is going to have a lot more layers to be peeled back.
I love a song that you can listen to, and it takes you away to a different place altogether so that you step away from your reality for a few minutes and into someone else's.
This is a beautiful thing that you don't really get all that often these days in terms of music so to have it is incredibly refreshing.
With the release of the single and the upcoming album, we wanted to have a sit-down with Sam to find out where all of this comes from and what might be coming up next for the artist.
Here's what happened.
Buzz Slayers: How did this release come about?
It wasn’t until a year after the album was done that, I realized what the album is. It was the moment in which my soul fully entered my body and I accidentally hit record while creating the album. “Like a Feather” is the single that best captures the glitch in the matrix. It reminds us of the beautiful synchronicities and connection we have to one another and the beauty of living life itself. I’m grateful to have received the song “Like a Feather” from the muse and be able to share with you all today.
Buzz Slayers: How did this all start for you as an artist?
Probably 10,000 years ago. Who knows. I feel like this moment is a culmination of not just my lifetime as “Sam Stokes” but the lives of my ancestors, my collective soul’s experiences, all of these things add up and simultaneously exist in the blink of an eye. There might have been a “start date” but that was centuries before I was born.
Buzz Slayers: What kind of things really inspire songs for you?
The human experience. A moment in my life or a loved one’s life that is so honest, so pure, it is impossible for me to sing it the first few times without crying as it’s coming out of me. It’s like a water fountain starts to bubble up and pour out in a song and I’m just recording the moment so I don’t forget it in 10 minutes and once the message comes through, I have to learn how to play it.
I’ve even had an experience where I played a song perfectly the first time it came out on a recording, then later it took me two weeks to learn what it was that I was playing and how to play it again. As if my hands weren’t playing it on the record at all.
Buzz Slayers: This single has some great approaches to it! Can you give us some of your biggest influences musically?
I love the greats. The icons. The mainstream, indescribable gifts to humanity. The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Carole King, Kurt Cobain, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Stravinsky, Stevie Nicks, Prince, Earth, Wind & Fire, Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday. The list goes on and on. To me, it’s the artists who are the vessels, the carriers of a message greater than themselves. They help us understand our emotions and our human experience better and more poetically through their expression.
Buzz Slayers: What are you doing when you're NOT working on music?
Creating music is a form of output. It’s a form of collecting thousands of ingredients together to make the perfect stew. So when I’m not “in the kitchen,” so to say, I’m “in the forest” gathering the ingredients. I’m living life fully and consciously, most of the time unaware of all of the ingredients that are falling into my basket as I move through life. Then when it’s time to cook and I sit down to write and record, there’s a million mico-moments that come together to create this delicious stew.
Buzz Slayers: Who's in your headphones right now?
I have a blend between deep, soulful funk like Parliament Funkadelic & Ohio Players; then some beautiful moving Salsa & Bachata music to get my hips going; then at night I normally sit down with some Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dinah Washington; and of course, there’s yoga and meditation music when I’m in a moment of focus or transmuting. That’s the blend this week.
Buzz Slayers: Are you doing any live performances right now?
All the time!
Buzz Slayers: Do you record these at a big studio or do you have a home studio set-up?
Anything and everything. For this album Common Ground, it was in the middle of the pandemic that I captured most of the recordings, so everything was captured at a home studio.
Buzz Slayers: What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
The Poetry & Lyrics Paperback is out now as a companion piece to the album. It’s published on Amazon and a way to get a sneak peak into the album before the release next month. Come October 16th, the full album experience will be available on all platforms for purchase and streaming!
Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
All of this is my gift to you. It’s an offering. My hope is that it touches you or moves you in some way that you feel connected to your most loving, highest self. It’s a tool on your journey of self-love and self-discovery.