Meet Samantha Schultz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Schultz.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and began my music career in the nurturing folk community of my home city. I put out my first ever EP at 14 which garnered me a nomination at the 2006 Canadian Folk Music Awards for “Young Performer of The Year.” I later released my first full-length album, “Both Sides,” at 16 years old. I then went on to perform frequently at folk music festivals and folk conferences across the country to rave reviews.

After graduating from Victoria School of The Arts (then Victoria School of Performing & Visual Arts; 2003-2009), a deep love of and dedication to my music and performing earned me The Gary Slaight Family full-ride scholarship to Berklee College of Music, in Boston, MA. During that time, I released my sophomore album, “Ink to Paper,” in 2011 and was later nominated for two 2012 Edmonton Music Awards: “Blues Album of The Year” and “Female Artist of The Year.” I was also a frequent featured performer at Berklee at many high-profile college concerts and events as a solo artist and as a member of the award-winning co-ed a cappella group, Pitch Slapped.

After graduating from the 4-year program (2009-2013), I relocated to Los Angeles, CA, and have become a one-to-call working musician. From session work, to corporate bands, to backing local beloved LA artists, I’ve really learned to become diverse and push my skill set further than I ever thought I could. I’ve been featured across many platforms, from CoverGirl commercials, to performances with legendary artists such as Kris Kristofferson and more. A lot of my personal music has taken a back seat in being faced with having to make a living off of music first, but I’m excited to announce that I’m working toward a release before the year is through.

Please tell us about your art.
First of all, I just have to say that I love that I’m blessed enough to be talking to you about the art I create (how cool is that?!)! I’m a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar player and have been doing this professionally since I was 13 years old. I am currently settled on the self-labeled genre of “acoustic soul.” It’s a mashup of my acoustic folk roots and storytelling tendencies; the jazz influence I picked up while I was taking guitar lessons during college; and my love of the classic soul/neo-soul music vocal style.

How I create music has been an ever-evolving process that has changed time and again over the near 1.5 decades that I’ve been writing! It used to begin with a chord progression and the lyrics and melody would come later, but the majority of my creating now begins with a cool lyric or a cool melody and I structure my chords around that. Very occasionally I’ll begin with a title, but it’s rare. I don’t necessarily write in structural order (verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, etc.), so it helps me keep it exciting every time. That’s the beauty about creating music: there really are no rules (in my case), but hopefully you get a great end result that you’re satisfied with!

My early music is very bluesy and roots as a direct result of the folk environment that I grew up in during my teen years. Once I got to college, I noticed a big shift towards jazz once I opened up my guitar chord vocabulary; I was writing more complex melodies and chord progressions that called for more active listening as an audience member, but still held the beauty of the storytelling tendencies of the folk songs I loved so much. Pop music slowly started to creep into my writing at the end of college, but it never became a focal point until after I relocated to Los Angeles and made an attempt at a third original album.

The project was intended to be a compilation album of the songs I had written since my 2011 release, but it evolved into an intensely pop-sounding project – something that I felt did not represent me. During the years of withdrawing from writing after this experience due to lack of confidence, I did a lot of listening to a ton of different music. I found myself back at my roots, listening to some of the original artists that I adored when I first began my journey in music, but with the soul influences and pop writing I’ve come to adore and appreciate. Along with the skill sets and training that I’ve been able to achieve over this hiatus, I’ve found my path again and am excited to be able to say that I’m writing again without fear. I’m nervous about putting new music out there after SO long, but I have to have faith that I’ve gotten this far for a reason and I’m excited to hear the stories that come out after all this time.

I love music!! I wish that I could make a less generic, cliché comment, but there is something so incredible about being able to put music to words and you or your audience are instantly transported somewhere. I’ve always said that songwriters have a responsibility to make any listener feel like they’re not alone – to make them realize that there is someone out there who knows EXACTLY what they may be feeling in that moment, be it happiness, sadness, love, excitement, determination, etc. If you are able to touch only one person in this way, then you’ve done your job. It’s never been about writing hits for me but making sure I can give any listener the sense of belonging or being able to relate through meaningful and purposeful music.

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
You know, I’ve restarted this question over and over again, and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that artists have more responsibility than ever today to create art that is meaningful. Now when I say meaningful, I think that it has to be art that makes a listener feel like they belong or that they’re safe in a world that seems to be more chaotic than ever these days, thanks to the fact that we as humans are bombarded constantly with the turmoil of today through multiple social media and news outlets.

I have definitely seen a rise in artists that are essentially writing about the changes we need to make to get back to loving our neighbors – that we can’t walk through this life alone filled with hate and anger, and that we find the people, places, etc. that put our hearts at peace. I know I’ve personally tried to write numerous songs addressing today’s current events and it’s a terrifyingly daunting task; it’s so hard to not sound cliché or preachy, so I commend the amazing writers that are able to put their feelings about the world into song.

As artists, we are able to capture moments in time that reflect what humanity is feeling as whole and I think that is a massive blessing but a very serious job we’ve been tasked with. But if not us, then who?

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can find music from my first two albums on iTunes and Spotify, as well as some other musical tidbits on SoundCloud!

You can follow my journey on Instagram (@samschmusic); Twitter (@samschmusic); Facebook (/samschmusic); and YouTube. I’m also a part of an amazing networking app called Jammcard and am currently trying out Vero.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.samanthaschultzmusic.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/samschmusic
• Facebook: facebook.com/samschmusic
• Twitter: twitter.com/samschmusic
• Other: soundcloud.com/samanthaschultzmusic

Image Credit:
Portrait photo, round sunglasses – Dustin Hyatt.
Group band photo at The Grove – John Paul Sweeney IV.
Background singing with Parlor Social – self-supplied.
Duo picture with Trey Macias (black background) – Visualz By Brian Zahorodniuk.
Brick background, wearing hat and vest – self-supplied.
Portrait with orange flowers, holding mic with hand on chest – MS Society.
Quartet photo, purple hues and cloud light piece – Vy Pham.
Studio session with headphones on – Michelle Shiers Photography.

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.