Listeners of “Midwest BEAT” know that sometimes host/producer Tom Lounges likes to introduce relatively unknown artists he has newly discovered to his NPR listening audience. Such is the case with this edition's guest, STEPHANIE SAMMONS, an artist Lounges and others in the media predicts is one of the next rising stars in the Americana market.
Sammons is not a "new" artist, but she IS new to NPR audiences. Despite having released two original music EPs prior to her latest full length album, "TIME & EVOLUTION," Sammons and her songs have not yet gotten on the general public's radar.
That should all change with the release of "TIME & EVOLUTION" -- produced by MARY BRAGG -- an artist who herself broke HUGE in 2019 with her album, "Violets As Camouflage." Bragg became the Americana music darling of NPR stations coast to coast. With Bragg's fingerprints on Sammon' new 10-song collection, it's very likely the same kind of lightning will strike again, only this time for the Texas-born and bred Sammons.
Working with Bragg in the studio and working in songwriter workshops with the likes of Suzy Boggus, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Jonatha Brooke, Gretchen Peters and others has enabled this gifted artist to find "her voice" and "her path" in the music industry.
These songs are vehicles for finding peace while struggling with inner conflicts; for finding a balance of faith and church teachings while being a gay woman; and to reveal how embracing one's "truths" can be a freeing experience. These songs reveal Sammons' stories, but others will likely relate to them find parallels in their own lives, as her words and emotions unfold from track to track.
Armed here with a cache of powerful songs, backed by an incredible group of musicians, and discovering a unique chemistry with Bragg as a creative collaborator, Sammons has in Lounges' opinion created one of the best albums of the year to date with "TIME & EVOLUTION."
