We recently connected with Sam Brown and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

Although I began seriously pursuing music as a career since 2015, the first dollar I ever earned as a performer came years before… when I was just two years old.

My family likes to say I was practically born singing. I come from a family of actors and musicians so I spent a lot of time learning from them and imitating them, and, by the time I was 2, I could match pitch, sing in key, and employ full vibrato (truly a sight – and sound – to behold). During this time, my mother sang part time on a 1940s dinner train in a 40s quartet… the train was an original and untouched since the 1940s and passengers would enjoy dinner and live entertainment as the train made short trips around the St. Croix River Valley. For 60 bucks a pop, she and 3 other singers donned costumes and wandered up and down the aisles of the old train, performing war-time favorites like “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree”, “I’ll Be Seeing You”, “Java Jive” and more. This instilled a love of 40s jazz music in me. My favorite song they would perform was “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, originally performed by the Andrews Sisters. By the time I was two years old, I could sing the entire song word for word and loved to sing it with my mom when she would rehearse at home.

The story goes, we were at a Big Boy family restaurant in Ironwood, Michigan, probably around 1998 or so. I, without prompting, stood up on the chairs and started to sing “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” for the wait staff that had started to amass. Full out, full vibrato, belting it out. The wait staff seemed amazed at this toddler being able to sing this song in full, and a song that was written over 50 years prior, no less! I got a big round of applause from the waiters and waitresses and one of them tipped me one dollar bill.

$1, baby. I thought, “well that’s pretty cool.”

And I’ve been singing for money ever since!

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?

I am a freelance singer and songwriter based in Minneapolis. I have the ability to master a wide variety of genres and have worked as a singer-for-hire for the past 7 years, providing lead and backup vocals for numerous bands and artists, as well as doing studio sessions, recording demos for up and coming songwriters.

I love to write my own music too, but I also enjoy bringing someone else’s vision to fruition. I have also recently started teaching and sharing the joy of music and singing with young people. I have worked for corporate bands doing numerous weddings and special events, led worship at several churches, fronted rock bands, subbed in bands for absent singers on the fly, sang backup vocals for top local artists, acted in professional musical theatre productions and sung on numerous recording projects.

I would love to find people to collaborate with on my originals, or possibly a manager that could help me with the business side of being a singer. For now, though, I’m enjoying being a freelancer and taking on many different projects that keep my life interesting.

My favorite genres to sing are soulful stuff like R&B, rock, and jazz music but I take pride in being a chameleon and bringing my soulful versatility to every genre I sing, be it top 40s pop, gospel music, musical theatre or country music. I also pride myself on being professional, prepared, and easy to work with.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

The uncertainty of the profession is something that people with “normal jobs” don’t quite understand. Non-creatives want security and one of the unfortunate (and also exciting) aspects of being a creative is you have no certainty of future employment. You are largely your own boss, and you need a hustle a bit to get to where you want to be. All we can do as artists is be true to ourselves and our work and take what we can and make things happen and put one foot in front of the other. They don’t understand that for us, or at least for me, it isn’t a choice to be an artist, it’s a calling. I feel that if I ever gave in to the societal pressure of a “normal” job and a “normal” life, I would be giving up on myself. The industry is too tough and the sacrifices you have to make are too great to not truly love what you do. I need to do music and I need to do it at a certain level, because I feel that it is what I’m best at and I want to make my living and my life doing what I am best at. Period.

Part of the deal is that you will have to struggle sometimes… you will have to work a day job sometimes that you absolutely hate just to make ends meet… the gigs come and they go away and come back again, and on and on and on. But in the end, to make your living as an artist is rewarding. Not only are we adding to the cultural tapestry of our generations and inspiring others, we are also feeding our souls. And sometimes, that comes with a price. But I find it is always, always worth it.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

PAY US. Come to shows, even shows you don’t think you want to go to. Go anyway. Buy albums. Pay for your music. Post about artists that you love. Support your creative friends.

In this era of Spotify and Tik Tok and everything else, I get the feeling people think they DESERVE free content. Is free content amazing? Yes. Should it be expected? No. If you want high quality art, pay for it. This is what we do. Respect that. And if you don’t, please go find other content that resonates with you more! You are not entitled to anyone’s art just because it is on the internet. I urge people to go out of their way to support artists that they believe in, both monetarily and by attending their shows and spreading the word. It’s a group effort!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sambrownmusic
• Youtube: @sambrownmusic