Meet Sam Small

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sam Small. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sam , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I don’t so much see optimism as coming from some spiritually ethereal fountain or some premium blend of brain chemicals as a plain and simple choice. That being said, it’s not always an easy choice. The world with all its massive problems on constant display doesn’t help, nor do my woes, however, I do my best not to slip into pessimism as I find it ultimately pointless and self-indulgent. I don’t see optimism and pessimism as a black-and-white dichotomy either, so often my goal is to just be on the right side of the spectrum. The thing that I most often rely on, is maintaining a general curiosity towards life, understanding that things are always changing and the most life-altering things always happen when they’re least expected. That mentality keeps my head above water through the more trying times and is a really beautiful outlook when things feel lighter.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m currently finishing up a new record that I’m very excited about. It’s what I consider to be a collection of the best songs I’ve written yet and my band is made up of some of my favorite musicians and people whom I’m lucky to call some of my best friends. It will be released under my name, Sam Small, which, yes, is my real name. I also play in other bands on tour and around LA and do session work playing guitar, pedal steel, banjo, dobro, etc.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Patience is key. Without patience, we can’t give ourselves the time to grow. Having the patience to be bad at something yet keep practicing, keep pushing, and keep improving by the tiniest amounts, is the only way to ever be any good at anything. No patience, no skill. Simple as that.

The second quality is precise and hyper-attentive listening. It’s no secret that listening is a major part of music, but the ability to learn parts by ear, even when they’re buried in a mix, is invaluable. More than that, however, is the ability to be completely tuned in with your fellow musicians in a live or studio setting. If you’re paying close attention you can anticipate. Get a group of musicians who are all on that level and it’s like you’re all reading each others’ minds.

The third is for anyone who writes or wants to write and it’s really simple. Reading. I primarily read novels and poetry and it’s helped me more than anything when it comes to writing lyrics. It never fails to break me out of a rut and often drives me back to writing with a vengeance.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I’m a little all over the board in the sense that I write and play a bunch of different instruments. My greatest writing strength is songs and my strongest instrument is guitar. That being said, it all lives under the same umbrella. Even poetry is songwriting without the structure of tempo and song form. I feel confident that each aspect of any of this I work on helps other aspects as well. For instance, learning to play pedal steel, made me a better guitar player as I started to hear music a little bit differently. Writing poetry has helped me craft more lyrically rich songs. I don’t think it’s ever good to rest on one’s laurels, and the only way to get better is to find shortcomings and go from there. So if you’re a guitar player, try another instrument. If you’re a painter who likes acrylics, try some watercolors. If you’re an architect, maybe studying dentistry isn’t going to do much other than spread your attention too thin, but then again, what do I know?

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