Songs and Stories - Sam Payne - News

Interview with Rebecca Cressman about Earl Madsen

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Rebecca Cressman does a weekly interview segment called "A Personal Touch," broadcast from (among other places), YourLDSneighborhood.com. She interviewed Kevin Peay and Sam about their friendship with Earl Madsen, who passed away in December. Find the interview here.

Interview with Greg Hansen

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Greg Hansen had Sam in the studio for an interview on YourLDSradio's New Music Show. The interview is in two parts, and broadcast on July 28 and August 4. You can find the interview in the YLDSR archives here.

Comments about Russ Dixon and I on the Good Things Utah blog

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Jason Anderson sent this link to some comments made about Sam and Russ Dixon by Angie Larsen of Good Things Utah fame. Kind words, Angie! Thanks for passing them along, Jason! http://www.abc4.com/content/blogs/angielarsen/story/Angie-Larsen-The-Green-Room-Where-Magic-Happens/khjeXBGq3k-BfsqlC-Dutg.cspx

Good Things Utah--for Paul Cardall

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Sam joined Russ Dixon on Good things Utah for this lovely lullaby. They were there to promote "Living for Eden, the concert to benefit Paul Cardall, who needs a new heart. To find out more about the concert, visit www.livingforeden.com.

YourLDSRadio Blog launch!

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Sam is the program director for YourLDSRadio, which just launched a blog today. Check it out by clicking the button!

Thoughts from Bulgaria (posted originally to www.yldsr.com/blog)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Let it suffice to say that for one reason or another, I found myself in Bulgaria a few weeks ago. Together with Mindy Gledhill (the remarkable songwriter whose music you can hear right here at YLDSR.com), I was a musical guest of One Heart Bulgaria, a non-profit foundation organized to benefit Bulgaria’s orphans (visit them at www.oneheart-bg.org). We visited orphanages in cities and towns, and met orphans young and old — charismatic, tough kids who have learned to lean on each other and survive, under circumstances every bit as difficult as you might imagine. It was a rich experience — once-in-a-lifetime.

And while we were deeply thankful for the experience, I found myself wondering (when it came to providing service for orphans with genuine needs) if a couple of musicians were the right folks for the job. I mean, good heavens, it was a pleasure to be there as a musician, but for the same energy it took to get a couple of musicians here, they could have brought a couple of dentists, or surgeons. I wrestled often with that notion during the trip.

But then I’d pull out my guitar, and Mindy and I would strike up a song. Sometimes it would be “I Am a Child of God,” and sometimes it would be Mindy’s lovely ballad, “Child of Light.” Sometimes it would be something so innocuous as Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (which the orphans all knew, by the way. Go figure). We’d sing for the orphans, and then the orphans would sing for us — Bulgarian patriotic songs, nursery rhymes, or Mediterranean pop tunes.

In those moments, the world became both bigger and smaller — bigger as the world of one’s experience expands to make room for new friends, and smaller as the world shrinks in the face of meeting people that, by all rights, ought to be more different than they suddenly seem.

In those moments, as a musician, I allowed myself to believe that maybe, for a moment, the exercises of fixing teeth, mending bones, and curing disease could be approached in import (not rivaled, perhaps, but at least approached) by the exercise of understanding hearts. In that endeavor, music is a crash-course. In his seminal 1979 address, “The Arts and the Spirit of the Lord, Boyd K. Packer said it this way: “”¦we are able to feel and learn very quickly through music, through art, through poetry some spiritual things that we would otherwise learn very slowly.” Amen to that. In Bulgaria, as musicians, we were quick learners (also, I think, quick teachers). To a greater degree than I might have thought possible, we get them. And they get us.

I’m naturally wary of a lot of the “art is going to save the world” propaganda that gets tossed around, but I’ve come to believe, at least, that the right music is perhaps the surest way to characterize and communicate the condition of a heart. I’m careful not to extrapolate too much from that belief — I mean, when a bone gets broken, there’s little use in trying to sing it whole again. But when it comes to achieving understanding between two different souls, I say put down the scalpel, and strike up the band.

Featured on Mindy Gledhill's "Music Industry Mondays."

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Mindy Gledhill's terrific catalog of albums--"The Sum of All Grace" and "Feather in the Wind"--is characterized by poetic, substantive songwriting, hard-hitting, emotive performances, and dynamite production. She and Sam, together with Peter Breinholt, are headed for Bulgaria next week as ambassadors for "One Heart Bulgaria," an organization established to benefit Bulgaria's orphans. Mindy featured Sam on her blog this week. Come read! Just click the button.

This is the general press release for yourldsradio (find it at www.YLDSR.com), an internet radio station of which Sam is the program director. You van visit Sam's "music' page to hear an interview with Steven Kapp Perry about the station.

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Salt Lake City, Utah (November 3, 2008) A new online radio station aimed at LDS listeners offering upbeat contemporary music will debut today on the web at www.yourLDSradio.com. The new station is part of the burgeoning music division associated with the yourLDSneighborhood.com concept launched in 2007 by Salt Lake entrepreneur Gaylen Rust. Noted poet, singer, songwriter and radio station host Sam Payne is the program director. Much like a commercial radio station, when listeners click on the station, they will hear a live stream of songs from a playlist featuring hundreds of tracks. Listeners will also have the option of hearing “on demand” pre-recorded programs such as Steven Kapp Perry’s Cricket and Seagull program, Greg Hansen’s 10-minute New Artist Show, or Payne’s folksy Radio Family Journal – a Garrison Keillor-type monologue from the heartland of Utah. Each is updated weekly with new material. Payne said the music “will be chosen at first from among songs that are already making the biggest impact in the cultural LDS listening experience. This is ‘A’ material. We want to build a relationship of trust with positive music. It will cover many genres, but our primary focus is LDS contemporary.” Rust said he hopes the station attracts a worldwide audience and also generates appreciation for a broad range of music with positive lyrics. “That’s the beauty of an online radio station. It can be heard anytime, anywhere. Most connect inspirational music with the LDS experience. While that’s fine, many just don’t know about the ‘common every-day’ music being produced by LDS artists. It isn’t being heard because there few opportunities to connect these artists with those who appreciate a variety of music outside the devotional format. Hopefully the radio station will be a catalyst for that.” Built into the web site is a discussion board where listeners can request songs, rate the music or make comments about the programming. Visitors looking for additional music options can also check out The Neighborhood Jukebox at www.yourLDSneighborhood.com/jukebox where hundreds of songs are available for listening. Payne said as far as he knows “this is the only online radio station of its kind and magnitude” catering exclusively to the LDS audience. Advertisers will be able to purchase air time on the station as program sponsors. For more information about advertising contact sales@yourLDSradio.com The target audience is anyone who likes and enjoys positive LDS music, according to Payne. And Rust adds that emerging artists featured on the New Artist Show will be mainstreamed into the playlist if their songs become popular so the station could become a launching pad for music careers.

On the Home Team show with Julie DeAzevedo Hanks. Good fun.

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Father to Son

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Click here to buy "Father to Son," the new album:
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Audiences have been asking at the merch table for the album "with the stories on it." Recorded for an intimate studio audience, this is the album. It includes stripped-down, full band acoustic performances of the best of old and new Sam Payne originals, along with the stories that accompany the songs, just as I tell them live. The musicians on the album are my long-time band mates, along with special guests Peter Breinholt and Cherie Call. If you're among those who have been waiting for this album, the wait is over. If you're wondering where to start getting acquainted with My music, this is the place.