We had the honor of meeting Sam Graber last month in studio. He is an accomplished playwright, podcaster and (of course) musician. He spoke about understanding the recipe for power pop songs. The proof was in the pudding last night at his album release for Love & Fury at the Icehouse.
There is an arc, or several arcs, to a rock song. As a music fan, I couldn’t map it out – but it’s what makes it possible to sing along to a brand-new song. Well hum away anyways. First Sam has some top shelf ingredients with an amazing voice himself, he has added guitar player extraordinaire, Marc Partridge and rock-solid drummer Brian Reidinger. (We have also interviewed Brian, who also understands the allure of a catchy beat.) These guys are cool cumbers up on stage, playing hard and fast without seeming to break a sweat.
One of the highlights for me was Simple. It’s upbeat and has that new but familiar feel. Before playing Long Long Way, Sam talked about low expectation and shared musical experiences (such as having low expectations for a show or event and bring blown out of the water) and that helped bring in the universal themes in the song.
Mostly Minnesota 