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The Daily Tar Heel

After opening for Chris Stapleton last year, country artist Sam Lewis is performing at Cat's Cradle on Thursday. Staff writer Alexandra Blazevich spoke with him about his career, ambitions and working with Chris Stapleton. 

Daily Tar Heel: How did you get your start in the music business?

Sam Lewis: Well, I started writing songs and I started trying them out in Knoxville, Tennessee. At that time I was playing a few gigs here and there and I wanted to learn a little bit more, so I started learning a little bit more about what type of artist I am — am I a songwriter or am I interested in writing for a machine?  Or do I want to tour and do that sort of thing? And that’s what I chose to do — what I wanted to do was actually write my own songs and tour them. So, that’s what began the whole thing. There’s no like, 'Okay, today I’m going to start in the music business!'

DTH: What are your career goals?

SL: They change every year. The top one would be to continue to evolve, not only as an artist, but as a human being and to continue to document my experience and continue to be observant. If I do what I intend to do, everything else will fall in suit. Other goals would be getting at least one project a year to continue to grow and be active — playing not as many gigs as I can, but playing the right ones at the right time. I want to continue to be open minded. That will really dictate what else I might want to do, or really, what else is left to be done.

DTH: You opened up for the Chris Stapleton, how did you prepare and adapt to this exciting opportunity?

SL: I prepared in many different ways.I decided that I needed to probably take a band out, which I had been wanting to do. When you’re an opening act, there are a lot of unwritten dos and don’ts. There’s no right or wrong, but you are the proverbial gate keeper. You’re in between the time they open the doors until the time the main event comes on. So, you have to prepare that the majority of who you are performing for are not there for you. Even though they enjoy it, you still have to keep in mind that you’re a walking, talking, living, breathing DJ, so to speak, and to not get too carried away or deviate away from your job, which is to go out and entertain a little bit until the main event comes out. That’s about the only real different preparation that there would be from me just going out and playing one of my shows. It’s pretty much song after song, and I get everyone excited and remind them why they’re there. 

DTH: What was your favorite part about opening up for Chris Stapleton?

SL: I’ve been with these people for a while, him and his wife Morgan and, of course, J.T. and Derek in the rhythm section — we’ve played music for years. Honestly, it’s really nice to travel from point A to point B and you get there to the place and your friends are there waiting for you. You get to visit and eat lunch and dinner with them and catch up. My favorite part of those shows is looking over at the side and see some of them over there in the wings watching the whole show and listening. That’s probably my favorite part. I think my most favorite thing for good Chris shows, is by the end of the night, I somehow make my way to the first row where they can see me. I raise a little hell for a minute. They get a kick out of that and it makes them smile.

DTH: Did Chris teach you anything that has shaped the way you make music?

SL: I think he has taught me a lot of things. He thinks I am a pretty good person, and I think he kind of showed me, by continuing to be a good person, what it could potentially lead to. He reinstated a lot of feelings that I’ve had about doing what I’m doing. I’m not saying my career will lead to all of the success that he’s had, but he definitely showed me that it can be kind and clean and fair and just and rewarding and fun even with success. It definitely was very encouraging to see that they really think and they really care about what they are doing.

arts@dailytarheel.com

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