Sammy Brue - “Our Garden”

SXSW 2020 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 5

Pairs Well With…Brett Dennen, Amos Lee, Ray LaMontagne

It looks like Sammy Brue has a new record on the way in 2020 judging from reports from his current tour supporting Michael Kiwanuka, a follow up to 2017’s classically-minded rock record I Am Nice. More pop, soul, and R&B notes inform Brue’s sound on I Am Nice than his prior acoustic-led material, so expect his next to continue to be one that broaden without losing the singer-songwriter’s traditionalist alt-country roots. Sammy Brue can sing the hell out of a pretty love song, so even if his next direction is more bare-bones, there’ll be a ton of payoff off his voice and guitar alone. (Kevin McStravick)

2017 Review: Sammy Brue is making music at fifteen that already feels timeless, a true phenom in the folk-pop realm. This isn’t a teenager strumming an acoustic guitar, well, there is that, but what Brue produced on his 2015 EP I Don’t Want to Leave and recent single “Finishing Sentences” can slide in with some of the better alt country of the past decade. The latter comes from his forthcoming full-length I Am Nice, produced by John Paul White (The Civil Wars) and Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes). Brue’s natural vocal has a unique, storied tone (again, wild how young he is for the music he creates) - not so much gritty as slightly weathered but comfortable in his own skin.