Sam Brookes – Kairos
By Mark Dohmann
| Label: | Sam Brookes – SKBLP001 |
|---|---|
| Format: | Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition |
| Country: | UK |
| Released: | 2013 |
| Genre: | Folk, World, & Country |
| Style: | Folk |
“Underground Headphone Sessions”
Sam Brookes is a young UK singer songwriter who gets cast as a folk singer but in reality he is a unique talent able to cross a few genres.
He shared an interesting life story over a few dinners in Melbourne a few years ago with myself and some friends. The steps leading to our paths crossing are complicated.
About 2 years earlier my daughter had shared a new artist called Sam Brookes with me one day on the way into the city. I immediately got hooked on the vocals and melody and said “Wow! this kid’s got talent”. Not that I’m a professional talent agent but I couldn’t help but be silenced by the beauty of his “sound”. Does he have anything on LP I asked?
I looked him up on Dr Google and he was selling vinyl direct to the public. So I ordered a copy. A few weeks later it arrived in the mail. It sounded amazing. I took it to a show in Melbourne and played it for the audience. Lee Gray from Kyron Audio loved it so much he ordered a copy for himself to play at shows.
A lot of listeners asked “who is that?” and soon more orders for LP’s were posting to Australia.
Sam Brookes sitting in UK wondered what is happening out there in the Antipodes. Spikes like that are aberrations. Lee Gray emailed him and asked if he was ever in the neighbourhood of Adelaide to look him up and if he was interested in recording a few tracks with their studio (Lee Gray and Leon Suter don’t just make amazing speakers they are also professional musicians and studio engineers).
Sam asked him how he’d become a listener. Lee said “my buddy Mark in Melbourne go me hooked”. Soon Sam reached out and said he’d like to catch up on a music teaching trip from Brisbane to Adelaide via Melbourne.
What could I say? Well I replied I’d get the “posse” together when he was in town.
Sam arrived a few months later and we took him out for “a cheeky ladies lunch” at Rockpool which was central for a few of the lads.
Sam had likely been running lean on a self-funded trip and we rallied the troops to ensure he would have the stamina to complete his journey to SA! James (one of the music posse) who happens to know which bottle of red to pair with the steak suggested Sam relax and kick back and replenish the larder. We sat there and worked our way through some amazing Sydney Rock oysters from Pambula some great steaks with mushy peas and egg. As a treat Sam thought he’d try the Pavlova as it was his first trip to Oz. The look on his face as they delivered a Pav the size of a dinner plate (we’d worded up the Rockpool team 😉 was priceless.
Over dinner Sam told us about his musical journey and how he writes his songs. Each song is deeply personal and comes from a close relationship with his father who tragically passed away when Sam was a young lad. His father had been a “folky” performing at UK and Irish festivals and living the life of a troubadour. Sam had travelled with him as a child and ended up working with his father in an upmarket picture framing business until his Dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.
Sam had been singing with a choir at school and had been privileged to join the Queen’s Choristers and being taught how to sing for a discerning audience. A lot of his work involves singing with his friends and some members of the London Contemporary Voices with the reverberant harmonies being recorded in ambient spaces. He knows how to use the natural acoustics to compliment his voice.
His voice has a power to stop you dead in your tracks. In Melbourne he performed at a small venue in Fitzroy. The venue is a small stage and has a bar which is very noisy. Most bands or performers struggle to cut through the noisy crowd who are more there for the social element.
The “posse” managed to get front row seats and we all wondered how the evening would progress. Sam got up on stage and tuned his guitar and quietly introduced himself. The majority of the audience weren’t there for him and wouldn’t have noticed his name or who he is.
The din of the crowd was annoying and would have ruined the night had they not been rapidly silenced. The second he launched into Numb from the Kairos album the noise stopped. We all just sat there in stunned amazement. The album tracks we had become very familiar with. The back story to each track we had learnt about over dinners and some quiet whiskeys. But the power of Sam’s voice is something behold.
You can get an appreciation in this Youtube video.
Sam is recorded in the London Underground with natural acoustics and his friends in the choir adding support. These Underground Headphone Sessions are a real treat and will give you some idea of who he is.
Each song has a story and depth in meaning. Love won and lost, friends departing on new life journeys, observations of his own frailties. The lyrical content is rich and will have you searching for the meanings and correlations in your own life.
Sam has worked hard not to be swallowed by the iTunes juggernaut and giving creative control over to a label. He is building his fan base one venue at a time and one festival at a time. He doesn’t seem to be driven by fame or money. He’s a troubadour on the road with his guitar, observing and singing about life and living. His streaming revenue is growing steadily to allow him to be a musician and travel the world (with a bit couch surfing).
He’s about as pure a source of musical bliss you can find. The album is now out of print but you might find a copy on Discogs if you persist. He has new albums out now which are just as good.
Kyron Audio has bottled some amazing recording sessions in Adelaide last year and allowed Sam the opportunity to play to a small crowd. Keep an eye for Sam’s touring dates.
Life and music is about making friends and sometimes we get to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Sam Brookes is headed for a stellar future and I’m glad to have made his acquaintance. I’m sure you will too!
Track listing
A1 Intro 1:59
A2 Numb 5:35
A3 James 3:31
A4 Crazy World And You 4:31
A5 Frequency 3:28
B1 This Is The Place 3:45
B2 One Day 4:17
B3 No Time 4:15
B4 Breaking Blue 5:49