Seattle, WA--Singer and songwriter Sam Shrieve was born with music in his blood, literally. The son of legendary Santana drummer Michael Shrieve, Sam fell in love with the music of classic songwriters such as Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Jeff Buckley, and The Beatles. His dad taught him three chords and he learned to write songs based on those chords right away. Several years later, Shrieve is a junior songwriting major at Berklee School of Music (he's studying with Pat Pattison and Jack Perricone, among others), and with the help of his dad and another legend, songwriter/guitarist Bill Frisell, has delivered a debut album, Bittersweet Lullabies, that is the end product of what the younger Shrieve has learned and observed as a student of his profession. It doesn't hurt that he has a velvety voice that sounds, at times, like Simon or Buckley with a hint of John Lennon thrown in.
"I'd like to think there's a strong diversity in my music," says Shrieve. "I listen to everything from Nina Simone to Rachmaninoff. At first, the album seemed like a mixed tape of my favorite types of songs, but they really all do sound like, just different parts of who I am."
Despite having a dad who is revered in rock circles (Michael was the youngest musician to perform at Woodstock in 1969), Sam has remained a relative secret until now. And he hopes that beyond any fame or fortune, that his music touches people one way or another.
"If I even get the chance to move people, be it a large or small audience, then to me that's a success," he says. "Carlos Santana once told me, 'There are musicians, and there are visionaries, and it's up to you to decide how it is you're going to become both.' That one stuck with me."
The songs on Bittersweet Lullabies (officially released this past May) are a sensory combination of pop, blues, rock, and even Spanish flavors--and Shrieve admits that as he matures and becomes more educated, he is learning how to become emotive and articulate through his music.
"A professor once told me that nobody could make you a great songwriter, Shrieve adds. "That's something you either have or you don't, but you can put more 'tools in the toolbox,' and learn to 'paint with more colors."
Indeed, Shrieve is working on his craft, but in the meantime, Bittersweet Lullabies is just the start of a very promising career.
For more info please go to www.samshrieve.com
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