Joe Samba with CydewaysGuitar slung low, microphone turned up, and emotion overflowing, Joe Samba taps into rock ‘n’ roll spirit and reggae soul all at once. The Massachusetts-born singer, songwriter, and guitarist sonically teeters on an axis of island-inflected grooves and gritty guitar-craft balanced by his dynamic vocals. He finds the sweet spot between smoked-out Caribbean bliss and sweat-soaked punkified energy. It’s why he’s quietly emerged as a phenomenon, toppling charts at #1 and performing alongside everyone from The Dirty Heads to Pepper.
However, he’s primed to unite not only genres, but people as well through a series of 2023 releases and much more to come.
On the other side of the Pandemic, he returned to New Hampshire with his fiancé and newborn son in tow, settling near his family once again. Signing to LAW Records, he continued to evolve with 2022’s Far From Forever highlighted by fan favorites such as “Create Something,” “Beef,” and “Got it All.” At the same time, he coped with depression, infusing darker experiences into his music in an effort to confront them.
“Before I was engaged and my son was born, I went through a really depressing path of life,” he admits. “If you have a past trauma you can’t get over, it will hold you back. However, I want to let people know everyone feels shitty from time to time. So much reggae is happy all the time, but I wanted to get into another vibe.”
That’s precisely what he does on the 2022 single “Boomer Economy.” On the track, a thrash-y guitar riff crashes right into a laidback reggae break as he alternates between galloping rapid delivery and a magnetic chantable chorus, attempting to bridge the generational gap.
“My dad is a boomer, and we butt heads sometimes,” he explains. “I love him to death. It’s scary how alike we are, but he’s from a different time. I was living at home in my twenties, and he was on me about getting out of there. I was feeling rebellious like, ‘Why do we need to argue about this bullshit when we’re trying to preach the same message?’ It doesn’t say, ‘I’m right and you’re wrong’. It’s about trying to find healthy common ground, but still having a ‘fuck you’ attitude,” he grins.
By building musical common ground on a foundation of honest emotion, Joe has the power to speak to any generation with more music on the horizon.
“It doesn’t matter who you are I hope you feel what I’m saying,” he leaves off. “Right now, I have everything I need. The universe dumped it all into my lap: ‘Here’s the family, here’s the career, here’s the team, and here’s the vision’. I’m just jumping on the train like, ‘Let’s do it’.”
Event Venue
Washington's FoCo, 132 Laporte Ave,Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
Tickets
