Written by Tiffany Jones
The Link: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?Sam Barker: Somewhere in mix between jazz, blues and pop.TL: Why did you start performing?SB: I really love it. I watched a guy I really looked to when I was in high school perform a lot. I loved to play guitar, and he asked me to play with him one time. It sounded fun, and after that I fell in love with it and it’s all I do.TL: What was one of your favorite show experiences?SB: Last year, I played at Midnight Oil, and I got to play a bunch of songs I wrote. Afterwards, a bunch of people got on stage and we all played a Coldplay song, and it was really awesome.TL: What was it like to play in China?SB: In China, the first night we [some guys in the Harding Chorus] just got up there and started playing. We had the right about of people for a band, so it actually sounded pretty good. They asked to come back the next night and when we did there were like, 150 chinese people. We played the song,”…and I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more,” and there’s a part where it goes “la-da-da-da” and the audience echoes. It was really funny to hear us sing it with their echo. They were a really good crowd, and it was a lot of fun.TL: What artist do you most sound like?SB: The artist I want to sound like would be John Mayer. Somewhere in between John Mayer and Jack Johnson.TL: Are you going to release any songs?SB: I would love to. That’s hopefully what I’m going to do this summer. I’m moving to Nashville, and hopefully I’ll be able to record some stuff.TL: What inspires you?SB: Obviously, the opposite sex. Girls inspire me a lot. The thing that inspires me most is whenever I get with people that I really respect as musicians like Brandon Ragsdale, Daniel Lee and Cullen DeHart. I get to play with them, and they’re all way better with me so that makes me go, “Hey, I really need to practice a lot more.” Once I do that and I’m listening to music on the radio I think, “Hey, that’s a cool rif.” I steal a lot of stuff, but that’s all everybody does so it’s okay.The Link’s Arts page regularly highlights student bands and musicians on the Harding campus. Do you want to be featured? Contact Arts editorTiffany Jones.
