We recently connected with Samantha Rays and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

I’m a musician and in recent years the biggest trend I’ve seen in the industry is an artist’s opportunity to grow independently. With the rise of social media, artists are able to tell their stories and share their music directly with people. It’s been exciting to get to know my audience personally, and I can be myself while I’m doing it!

It’s also an incredible way to connect with other musicians. I’ve been able to meet people and create art and build long lasting friendships I never could have imagined. It’s an exciting trend and, so far, has brought a lot of really cool people into my life!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name’s Samantha Rays and I’m a singer-songwriter from Toronto.

I’ve always been inspired by the connectivity of music and the comfort of an honest story. I grew up listening to incredible songwriters such as Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, admiring the vivid imagery they created and the layers of their storytelling.

I began playing guitar at 18, and my folk soul style and love for storytelling has taken me to shows across Toronto and Nashville. I am very passionate about songwriting and the process behind it, it’s both a personal catharsis and a way of connecting with people on a deeper level. I find so much comfort in taking the time to find the right words and imagery to paint a picture.

I love sharing my stories and despite the serious nature of some of my songs, I always like to throw a joke in here and there during my live shows.

I’ll be releasing my first single “Hostage” in November. The song explores the struggles faced when confronted with a missed opportunity and the effects of that feeling of loss. Releasing this song as my first single is an exciting full circle moment as “Hostage” is the first song I wrote independently at 18. Now looking back at this song nearly 10 years on, the meaning of it has grown and changed, but it still feels very representative of my journey. I’m excited to share it with everyone!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, being a creative is all about surrounding myself with like-minded people and providing unlikely solutions to non-existent problems.

There are so many cool ideas in the world and I’ve come to believe that they’re all possible. You never know who you could meet or what someone might say that triggers a whole landslide of new possibilities. It’s so important to be open to that kind of magic. It’s been incredible to allow myself to lean into the randomness of life.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

This is a really ridiculous story, and I’m not sure it can be categorized as a test of resilience, but it definitely made me take pause to consider the life I was getting myself into.

I was playing a set at a Halloween Food Truck Festival and my family, ever-loving as they are, came out to support. In the spirit of the event they all dressed up in different costumes which I thought was really funny and sweet.

Unfortunately, there were issues with the sound system and my guitar and vocal mix was very quiet. To make matters worse the stage was setup right next to the children’s play area. All things considered, my family needed to stand very close to the stage to hear my already quiet music over the sound of screaming and running children.

So there I was, playing my heart out to a Penguin, Cheetah, and Elvis, standing not 10 feet away from me.

Given the sound issues my mother looked concerned for the entire 45 minutes which could only be made worse by the fact that she had whiskers and a tale.

This was not a dream and I was fully sober, although I do think a drug-fuelled experience may have rendered the same results.

All in all it was hilarious, but it was also one of the first shows I ever played, so with that in mind, I suppose a bit of resilience was necessary to keep on down this road. It taught me that you really never know what’s coming around the corner, and maybe that’s for the best!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: samantharaysmusic
• Youtube: SamanthaRaysMusic
• Other: TikTok: samantharaysmusic

  Gmail: [email protected]

Image Credits

Connor Nicholl Penman – for all photos except the one of the large group