This is the third in a series of monthly articles embracing the offerings of some of the great musicians who live in our region
Maleny-based Sam Shepherd is one of those guitarists who combines great technical fluidity and musicality, so it is not surprising that heads turn when he performs. Now in his early 30s, Sam exploded onto the scene winning competitions as a teenager and was encouraged in his endeavours by artists such as Michael Fix and Tommy Emmanuel. Coming from a musical family a life in the arts appeared natural and adding a pleasant singing voice to his attributes has enabled him to eke out a living as a performing musician.
Covid’s affect on the career of so many in the arts however encouraged him to refocus his career aspirations and he is now enrolled in a masters degree in music therapy. Interestingly, Sam assured me that it was something that had been on his mind for many years. He has been a lifelong sufferer of OCD and knew that at some point he wanted to bring healing into his work as a musician. If he could turn his mental struggle into a positive thing he feels, then on some level it might have been worth it. His personal interests in meditation, mindfulness and Buddhism may perhaps be incorporated into his performance. I imagined him interacting, guitar in hand, with a client, even a non musician, who might sing or play percussion as a form of release.
This led us to further discussion of his music as he is moving more toward creating his own work these days – both song and instrumental writing, rather than playing other people’s music. He has released an album called ‘Invisible’ but another is on the cards as he has enough of his own material for a further foray. I asked him about lyric writing as that is an area that challenges a lot of musicians. Sam feels confident as a wordsmith and says his lyrics are about things that affect him emotionally, although he noted he doesn’t write generic love songs. Even when he writes instrumentals he says he thinks of them as songs without words.
I ask Sam, as a take away, what is the one thing that he finds most powerful about music. He says it allows him to be in the moment, to forget the rubbish that is going on in his head and to be 100% himself. Sam Shepherd will be performing his original music at Muzika at Maleny RSL on Thursday December 1. Do get along if you’d like to catch him in action. I don’t think you will be disappointed!