The 21 year-old Newport Beach-native has traveled across the states and back to bring Orange County an album rich with rock, jazz, and folk music. Sam Avalon maintains the honesty of a singer/songwriter while stretching her music to new heights. The album “Room 325” showcases her extensive vocal range as well as the collective creativity of over a dozen musicians during her time at Vassar College.
Performing since elementary school on piano and guitar, Sam Avalon has built a solid following in her home town and a has growing fan base around Poughkeepsie, and on-line. Sam’s original folk-rock and ballads show an eclectic blend of 60’s folk and contemporary indie-pop, augmented by her classical and jazz background. Her vibrant energy and warm personality connects her audience with the candid self-awareness of her lyrics, creating an instant bond whether she is playing solo or with a band. She debuted in New York opening for Al Stewart at the City Winery in 2011 and again in 2014.
Sam has won awards for her original musical compositions and singing, and at age 17 founded her own non-profit children’s community choir, which she continues to direct, and which has raised money for disaster relief in Haiti and the Philippines as well as other charities. She has studied music in Senegal, conducted music workshops for Aids orphans in Uganda, and fronted Vassar’s Half Sam jazz ensemble. In March 2014 she participated in a 2-week concert tour of Japan, directed by John Caird (director of Les Miserables), raising funds for the Ashinaga Foundation.
Sam is a regular performer at popular venues around her hometown, including the Blue Beet, the Harp Inn and the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, where she has opened for Al Stewart, Crash Test Dummies, David Wilcox, Dick Dale, and the Young Dubliners. Sam has been featured regularly in the press, on KOCI 101.5 FM, and her music is rotated on WABG Radio in Mississippi.
A family life immersed in music, culture and travel has cultivated in Sam an appreciation of the world and a maturity in her songwriting far beyond her years. She is fluent in French as she has summered in France since her birth, and has had the opportunity to perform both in the US and abroad, including “Off-Jazz” with the Pierre Christophe trio at the Jazz-a-Juan Festival in Antibes, France. Samantha sings regularly for community, charity and sporting events, specializing in the American, Japanese and French National Anthems.
Instrumentation
Sam Avalon – solo artist – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano
