Meet Samantha Erin | Musician, Singer-Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Samantha Erin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Samantha, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks has been the main reason I have been able to work as a full time musician. I believe that it’s worth taking a risk for something you work hard for and if things don’t work out the first time, at least you were brave enough to go for it!

In 2020 a lot had changed for the world, my career and daily life. I had been working with students and within childcare for many years, and this was the first time in a long time that I had to sit and reflect on what had been going on in my life up to that point. I hadn’t been doing any kind of music things and I had to really decide if I was happy with life being that way. My first jump was learning ukulele and singing with it. After about a year of playing, I moved onto the classical acoustic guitar I got when I was in middle school. I figured that if I was able to teach myself one instrument, that I could start learning the basics for the next.

Before long, things began opening up again and I went out to see live music. I had been yearning for live entertainment (never imagining I would be doing something like that again) and my good friend introduced me to the performer of the evening. After leaving the bar, I had chatted up and worked out a few guitar lessons! I remember thinking how crazy and cool it felt to have something so concrete set up for music and made sure to practice up on the things I already knew before my first lesson.

After a few lessons and less than a year on guitar, I took a risk and signed up for my first open mic night in Fort Collins. It was a 30 minute slot and I just went for it. From that point on I started writing my own songs, learning new instruments like the bass and cajon, and joined a few bands within a year of my first open mic. I had also gotten my first show at the spot where I met my guitar teacher, friend and bandmate.

After long consideration with my partner-I quit my full time job in 2022 and have been working as a full time musician since. It has been the scariest and most rewarding experience I’ve had.

Since moving full time into my music career, I’ve been able to sit down and write more songs about love, heartache, friendship and compassion towards things you don’t understand.I hope to inspire people to be authentically themselves and go for their dreams. I’ve been learning through my music journey how to show people all sides of my personality, and allowing myself to be vulnerable, in hopes that I can inspire someone else. It’s scary to talk about heartache and the pain of the world but it’s nice to not feel so alone in those feelings. We are so much more similar than we realize and I love connecting with others.

I am so grateful for the risks I’ve taken, and still push myself to be challenged, learn from others and have fun in the process.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My music is mostly acoustic singer-songwriter style. I love writing songs that tell a story about my past experiences and sharing the emotion of those moments during my shows. I have been writing my own songs for a short time and decided to sign up for a songwriters competition. I ended up writing about 3 songs during that time and played them for the 2 rounds of the competition. In the end, I won!!!
Since then, I have sang on the radio, opened for the Local Honeys at the Moxi Theatre, and released my first single!

This year I am focusing on playing more original music, collaborating with other local musicians, and working on getting my original songs recorded, in hopes to release an EP this year!

Being a self employed musician has been a crazy ride. There’s not really an exact step by step guide on how to release music or book shows, which has put a few roadblocks in along the way. I’ve been able to lean on a lot of music friends who are riding along with me and have found an awesome community of folks who want to share the knowledge, collaborate and uplift each other.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had someone visiting from out of town, I would make sure that we go spend time in the mountains! Our first stop would have to be in Johnstown, Colorado at the Black Sheep for breakfast. They have seasonal lattes, amazing sweet and savory crepes and are located in the Historic Downtown area of Johnstown!
After breakfast, we would walk around the area and then take the 45 minute drive to Estes Park. I’d take them into Rocky Mountain National Park for the day.
For some of the other days, I would spend time taking my friends to walk around the downtown local parks like Cheeseman park for a picnic and maybe try to catch a music in the park show. I’d also take them to Meow Wolf for an afternoon. You can get lost in there for hours!
Another day would be spent in Fort Collins, Colorado. We’d get our bikes to ride along the Poudre Trail, grab a beer from New Belgium Brewing and end the day at Horsetooth Reservoir to enjoy the beautiful Colorado sunset.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to give a HUGE shoutout to my wonderful friend, Christine Alice.

Christine was the first female musician I had met who genuinely wanted to get to know me, pushed me in my musicianship, and inspired me to jump back into music. Christine has helped given me guitar lessons, has brought me into the band Canyon Echoes, connected me to wonderful experiences and people, and has become one of my closest friends and mentors. I am beyond grateful for her guidance, advice and support through music and life.

I also have to shoutout my amazing partner, John Morton.

Before leaving my job, John has always pushed me to play and go for my dreams. He’s the first person I show most of my songs to, he comes to almost every single show, he’s so encouraging, and he is always open to playing around with me on the instruments in the house. John was a big advocate in me starting my business and has always supported me with my music career. I am so lucky to have him by my side.

Website: Samanthaerinmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SamanthaErinMusic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theofficialsamemusic/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@samanthaerinmusic6975

Image Credits
Callie Ann Photography Dark Moon Studios