Samuel Ventura

Words and Photos by Joe Koch

When most kids were goofing off, Samuel Ventura was working on his first album.

“When I was 8 I took a cassette tape and wrote 12 songs with just my voice,” he remembers. “I didn’t know how to play any instruments, so I guess you can call that my first album.”

At 12, Sam picked up his first guitar and legitimately started writing, but his talent did not come over night. His drive to perfect his craft left him dispirited; no one was willing to witness his progression as a songwriter. The problem was that Sam’s singing and guitar playing were not equal to his songwriting, so people would judge the song prematurely.

The one person Sam could rely on for input was his brother Gary. After all, Gary has been there from the beginning and had no problem giving criticism when needed. Then one night Gary finally heard Sam reach the next plateau.

“I was over at his house and I started playing all of my songs. Song after song, we stayed up all night. Then he stated that all of my tunes sounded really good,” said Sam.

The vocals, guitar and the writing were finally coming together as three equal parts. Gary’s words of encouragement were all Sam needed to continue pursuing his dream.

After constant writing and continuous practicing, at age 19 Sam’s dreams are finally coming to fruition: He is preparing to release his first full-length album this June,

Beautiful Tragedy. The album reflects Sam’s innate ability to write some of the catchiest pop songs that will eventually consume our airwaves. Using his MySpace plays as a scale, he is quickly skyrocketing. The song “Strawberry Soda” seems to be a MySpace favorite as it has gone from 50,000 plays to 65,000 in just under a month.

Sam is confident when he talks about his songs.

“I definitely feel that I have something different and good,” said Sam.

He never writes with a specific vision in mind, so listeners can expect to hear a variety of genres in his music ranging from folk to hip-hop and classic rock.

“I want listeners of my music to cover a wide target audience,” said Sam.

Beautiful Tragedy was recorded at Watchman Studios in Lockport, N.Y., the same studio that produced the 1,000,000 seller “Cupid’s Chokehold” by the Gym Class Heroes. They are also friends and from the same hometown of Geneva, N.Y.

“My brother Gary is actually friends with those guys,” said Sam. “I can remember coming home and Travis McCoy from GCH would be on our computer downloading songs.”

The album’s standout tracks are “Strawberry Soda,” “Sunshine” and “Girls Drive Me Crazy.” These will catch the ear of a first-time listener. But dig deeper and you will find the sexually toned “Coconut Tree,” which was almost left off the album. This song has the potential to be a summertime smash in the car and in the clubs: “Hello my name is Sam. You’re making it hard to stand,” sings Sam. The female voice gives the song that hot like heat feel.

There are 14 songs and you don’t find yourself skipping over many of them. That’s a rarity.

Sometimes Sam struggles with the comparisons.

“It’s just natural for people to hear an acoustic guitar and a similar melody and think Jack Johnson,” said Sam. “I get Jason Mraz a lot too.”

He lists his influences as Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst,) Beck, Sublime and Beatles but wisely uses Johnson and Mraz to gain new fans. “When you’re using the grass-roots approach to introduce people to your music, you use every tool that you have,” said Sam.

Sam is definitely headed in the right direction. His new album Beautiful Tragedy reverberates with a freshness that is long overdue. It’s time for Samuel Ventura to step into the spotlight and shine.

For more information go to: www.myspace.com/sammyvmusic