Meet Sam Schmidthuber
by Dave Kline
It's fun to think of the warmer months ahead, and the many musical performances in Pennsylvania's Americana Region throughout spring and summer. Read about a talented, young musician you can hear in our region this June.
One of the values that we hold dear in Pennsylvania's Americana Region, as we work to grow our Annual Berks Country Fest: An Americana Jamboree*, is that we serve Reading and Berks County as a nurturing place for the development of talent. We welcome talent from all walks of life, all ages, all lifestyles, and all genres. Our community is a place where people can feel welcome, share their art and music, and have the opportunity to express themselves through live performances with audiences. Thanks to recorded audio and video performances, via our multi-media outlets, this talent can be shared with the world.
A great example of how this works is the story of fifteen-year-old, Sam Schmidthuber. Sam came to our attention through friends, and musicians who frequent the thriving open-mic-night scene at various locations in the area. An enthusiastic phone call and talent tip came our way. "There's a young guy who writes and sings his own country, and Americana music and does some great covers too. You have to hear him and meet him", offered the lead. Most of us have heard stories like this before. It's part of the way show business and business in general work. In this case, we learned that Sam had performed at the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show's Got Talent competition in Harrisburg and had won the male solo performer category. A call to Sam and his family also revealed that they are already making inroads into the competitive market for talent in Nashville, Tennessee.
We invited Sam into the WEEU / Reading Eagle / Pretzel City Productions Sound Room for a radio interview, a live taping for our Sound Room radio show, and our Sound Room video series. He served up a wonderful series of songs, with subject matter and delivery, way beyond his chronological years. We hired him on the spot to be one of the opening acts for the Johnny Cash & June Carter Experience, a tribute concert we're presenting in late spring.
The Sound Room is a joint production of WEEU Radio, Reading Eagle Company and Pretzel City Productions, LLC, and is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Americana Region at 34 North 4th Street, Reading, PA.
*Berks Country Fest: An Americana Jamboree runs from June 2 through June 18, 2017 and features ticketed and non-ticketed shows throughout Pennsylvania’s Americana Region.www.berkscountryfest.com
Click on Sam's picture to hear and see his Sound Room video session.
