Sam Carter is what Country Music is all about... passion, authenticity and honesty. Not only is Sam a genuine person who showcases his artist and songwriter abilities at a high level, he is also a crafty songwriter who can write you a radio hit or a deep storytelling song that gets you hooked. Sam released his 5 song EP "You and Tattoos" which came out May 26th, 2023. An artist and songwriter who may not be on your radar, but needs to be, as Carter is as consistent as anyone in Music City and really captures what Country Music is all about. I sat down with Sam Carter and talked about his single "Beer Tastes Better, how he fell into songwriting and moving to Nashville and advice he'd give his younger self. Take a look into the life and music of Sam Carter and how the Georgia native navigates through his career in music city.
Get To Know Sam
"I'm from Dallas, Georgia which is about 40 minutes northwest of Atlanta. Growing up I never listened to Country Music, my parents didn't listen to it and really never heard it. I was a skater kid growing up, was big into that and really was my whole life until about 8th grade. Going into high school I really started listening to Country and I don't know how, just organically came into my life. It was crazy to me, because I love music, especially Rock music, but I never heard music tell a story and mean something and it blew my mind. Back then it was the YouTube days so you could go down a rabbit hole pretty quickly. The first record that I really loved was Brantley Gilbert's "A Modern Day Prodigal Son", then I got down that rabbit hole of all the (Jason) Aldean cuts he had and I got into Eric Church and just spider webbed from there. I was just a fan for a long time. I had a friend, who's older brother was really into the underground, up and coming country artists and songwriters and I got hooked on that. For me, I thought it was really cool that Cole Swindell had cuts on Thomas Rhett's albums and things like that.
Around that time I was 20 or 21 years old and my dad had an old guitar and I really liked a lot of the songs I was hearing so I wanted to learn how to play them. That evolved into writing my own stuff and that naturally happened, which is crazy to think about."
All I need is an ICE COLD BEER.
"Beer Tastes Better" pulls you right in with a mesmerizing production that sets the mood for the rest of the song. Carter comes out swinging with a catchy "moving on" jam that is relatable to anyone finally getting their swagger back after a breakup. We've all been there, feeling the blues, but eventually we all bounce back and realize our self worth and "Beer Tastes Better" is there perfect song to jam out to. This track is a perfect easy listen, simple and relatable lyrics, but also does a phenomenal job of still having a refreshing feel and shows Sam's authenticity as he provides his own witty songwriting and a cool twist on a cliche experience we have all been through. The production lays a perfect foundation for Sam's smooth vocals and infuses his emotion and a feel good vibe beautifully through the lyrical content. A song that you will never get out of your head. Let's be clear... an ice cold beer can make any day better even if your crazy ex takes the couch, the pictures on the wall, hell... even all the dishes in the kitchen. I've been single a very long time and this song gets me fired up like I'm getting over an ex. A JAM!! One of my favorite songs of 2023 as it rang in on #53 on "UPstar. Music's Top 100 Songs of 2023".
Inspiration Behind "Beer Tastes Better"
Written By: Sam Carter, Johnny Dailey, Matthew Morrisey
Produced By: Derek Wells & Matthew Morrisey
"I wrote it with Matt Morrisey and Johnny Dailey. I don't know if we even had a title or an idea, I was just kind of playing those chords, it's the same chords to a Luke Combs song and someone shouted out "Beer Tastes Better". It fell out and I think we wrote that song in maybe an hour... it was just one of those days. I'm a big fan of those days. It felt good from the beginning and was easy to sing, easy to learn the words, fun, catchy and I put it in my back pocket because I knew I was going to be recording soon. It was a song that I really liked and thought it would resonate with people."
Q & A With Sam Carter
Q: What was that "light bulb" moment that you knew you wanted to pursue music and what were your early days of songwriting like?
A: "The early days of songwriting... I really was just trying to recreate songs and music that I liked from the artists I was listening to from my perspective. I would be like "I really like this song, but I was it sounded more like this". That's how it started and I really enjoyed it. I didn't write a ton, sometimes it would take me two months to write a song, at the time I was writing by myself.
The "light bulb" moment came a year or two after I started writing songs. I had never played out in front of people like at a bar or anything, but I recorded 5 songs I had written and put them out. A bar that I always went to reached out and I ended up playing there and after that a few more bars reached out. I was working full time at this point, had a company truck and knew I didn't want to do it forever it was just a job to me. After playing 2 or 3 shows, I had a crossroads at my job where they wanted to move to to a new position where I would be a lot busier and be on call. I was doing pretty well and making good money playing shows so when I left after that meeting I knew I was going to quit. The next day I brought all my stuff back and was going to focus on music. It was very relieving, I knew I could always go get another job in the next few months if I needed to. The shows kept coming and I was living at my parents at the time, and they are super supportive of me."
Q: Who are some people in the music industry who's made a significant impact on you?
A: "My whole publishing team at Spirit, Derek Wells, Frank Rogers for sure. I think them believing in me enough to bring me to Nashville... I was in Georgia and they offered me a publishing deal and that allowed me to move to Nashville, without them, I would have never been able to move to be a songwriter if it wasn't for that. They are high on the list for sure. Brinley Addington, he writes at Spirit as well, he was the first write I ever had as far as a Nashville guy. It was a major learning experience for me, up until that point, I hadn't had many co-writes with other people. A lot of the guys at Spirit, Jeremy Bussey... I learned so much in my career from the beginning of my situation in Nashville. It was a big learning experience for me from writing in my bedroom to writing with songwriters that are writing songs every day and that's their job. A big chance and a big step for me."
Q: Looking back 5 to 10 years, what's some advice you'd give to your younger self?
A: "I know this is the typical answer but, stop trying to be the people and things you like... be yourself. I've always felt like in Country Music you have to fit a certain mold of "hey, you have to deer hunt or go fishing every weekend", but this past year I realized I am who I am and I don't really give a shit. I wish I would have learned that sooner. Within the past year, I went through a breakup and I hate to bring that up, but it really made me realize I have to stop trying to hide the different sides of me and who I am. It's okay to be more than one thing, like I said, I grew up being a skater kid and that's very far off of being a country boy and it's okay I like both of those things amongst other things."
Q: What does music mean to you?
A: "It's like a medicine for sure... It can change your mood 180 degrees. It sets the mood in every situation, makes people feel things that are good and bad. Music is very powerful and can make you feel something which is really cool. I'm looking to be apart of it and I get to make music for a living. It's more than a job, I would do it for free if I had to. Writing songs and putting out music can be a lot of pressure having that responsibility that fans are listening to your music, but I try to put out songs I like and trust that I'm not the only one that feels a certain type of way. It's very special I get to be in that position and embrace it."
If you are just discovering Sam Carter follow him on Apple Music, Spotify, Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok
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