So you’d like to learn more, huh?

These things are fairly embarrassing to write. I always like to read about artists I enjoy listening to and I think some info is worth having, but it’s sort of obvious whenever the artist has written it themselves from the third person. Even worse when they use ChatGPT… blegh!

Let’s not kid ourselves. There are many amazing people in my life who help me on a daily basis navigate through a developing music career, but a biographer is not one of them.

So shamelessly I will write a little bit of info about myself here from the first person. Highly curated, of course.

I started playing violin sometime around the age of 3 or 4 years old. I was homeschooled at the time. My mother swears I came home from a very artsy summer camp and, after hearing the sound of the “strings” tent from the older-kid section of the camp, begged her to play it. I’m not sure if I buy that story. I kinda think it was her idea.

Either way, I played violin for about a decade afterwards. Lots of camps, orchestras, youth symphonies, varying teachers, recitals, etc. I took piano lessons, vocal lessons, and guitar lessons all at separate times during that decade but none of it particularly stuck. By the time I hit thirteen or fourteen I had just like, totally lost interest in playing. Home life got a little rough and pressures had grown to a point that it felt like a massive chore and a headache just to even think about playing violin.

I fell in love with photography for about 6 years or so after that, mostly as a great way to be out of the house and make friends. I actually did pretty well for myself in that field… I grew a nice little audience online, worked with a couple big brands, and photographed a couple weddings by myself all before the age of 20.

Once I had a more stable place to live by myself — which happened to be at my first year of college at the University of Montana — I fell really hard for music again. I started writing songs on the guitar and the piano and tried out just about every instrument I could get my hands on. After COVID hit, I moved back home and took a gap year from school. During that year I spent upwards of 12 hours a day just practicing music and writing songs. I fell in love (and became quite obsessed with) the music of Nirvana, The Beatles, Radiohead, and Elliott Smith. I eventually turned my sister’s old bedroom into a little music studio with an electric drum kit, an upright piano, some microphones, a bunch of guitars (some borrowed, some owned), some amps, a violin, viola, and cello, and a computer loaded with GarageBand.

Several years later I finished and released my first album right around when I graduated from Portland State University, with my honors thesis being published only a couple months prior.

Now, as of August 11th, 2026, (when I’m writing this), I’ve been playing shows around Portland with a very talented 5-piece backing band. (Which is starting to become more just like… a regular band.) I just released two new singles a few weeks ago. I live in a studio apartment alone in Portland that I’ve recorded almost everything I’ve released in. We have band practice in here, too. Outside of performing and playing music, I enjoy working on my old cars (though I’m not any good at it), taking care of my plants, seeing local shows, and spending time in various dive bars. I work a couple odd jobs outside of music too, primarily as a landscape gardener.

Come see a show sometime, or send me a message online. I always enjoy hearing from people who’ve connected with the music at any point in time.

Thanks for reading.

-Sam