Samantha Martin in interview: « My style is a blend of the soundtrack of my life »

Recorded live during a tour across Western Canada, A Beautiful Buzz proves, if it still needed proving, the incredible stage power of Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar. Driven by a commanding voice and a direct, unfiltered approach to live performance, the Canadian singer delivers a deeply human record where every song seems to breathe with the audience. For Blues Actu, she looks back on this album recorded without a safety net.

🎙️ Samantha Martin interviewed by Cédric Vernet

Hello Samantha! A Beautiful Buzz was recorded live during your tour across Western Canada. What an incredible energy on this record! At what point did you realize these shows deserved to become an album?

We have recorded a lot of our shows for posterity sake over the years, but it wasn’t until a couple years later when I went digging through the hard-drives of recorded shows looking for a version of Loving Cup for a saxophone player who was filling in for our regular player that I re-opened the Maple Ridge show. I listened to Loving Cup, and was like “Wow, that was a great version… I wonder if the rest of the show is that fun.” And it was!

Your music blends soul, gospel, blues and rock with something incredibly intense. Are you still searching for the right balance between those different styles, or has it become completely natural for you today?

I would say my style is an adaptation or an amalgamation of all the songs/styles of my life long playlist. Part of who I am is a songwriter, so some songs lend themselves to different genres more than others, and I don’t feel like bopping between stylistic choices is necessarily a bad thing so long as it still feels/sounds cohesive overall. I leave it up to the listener to decide if I have found the “right balance”… some would agree, others won’t… but there is a song in there for most listeners to grab onto.

There’s a real collective spirit in your concerts, an impressive chemistry between you and the musicians. How do you build that energy with Delta Sugar on stage?

I hope that is the case, and that it doesn’t just sound like it hahaha! We have been playing music together for a long time, there have been folks in and out (and back in again) over the years depending on schedules etc, but this particular group of musicians have played many shows with me. There is also that this recording was from the last show of the tour, so that, I am sure, helped. I do my best to make sure that the band knows I appreciate them, and I try really hard to make the tours/shows as comfortable as possible for everyone so that we can focus on putting on the best show possible.

The first single My Crown is emotionally very powerful. What does this song say about you?

My Crown was written by a producer I worked with on the first Delta Sugar record, Send The Nightingale, in 2014. Rench said he had a song he thought I would do a good job at, and I listened to it and it really resonated with me. From where I am sitting it is about the sacrifices that are made and the work it takes just to keep going forward and the hope that it is all going to work out in the end for the better.

« I never try to sound like anyone else but myself »

A lot of critics compare you to Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples or Tina Turner. Is that flattering, or can it sometimes become difficult when you’re trying to build your own identity?

It’s absolutely flattering because they are some of the best vocalists I’ve ever listened to, but I don’t think that it is necessarily accurate. I flat out do not sound like any of them. I can’t hit the same notes/runs as Aretha, Mavis has a richness to her vocal tone that I have never heard anywhere else, and Tina is mind blowing. I think what people connect to and are comparing is maybe the intensity/conviction of the vocal delivery. It’s the same reason I get Janis Joplin comparisons a lot. Listeners and critics like the reference points so that they judge the quality against something that is established, I get it, but I don’t go out trying to sound like anyone else but me (for better or for worse… this is what comes out of my mouth).

You’ve often said that touring and life on the road shaped the band’s sound. Does this live album give you something that the studio can never reproduce?

The one thing that is missing from a studio album is the audience and how they interact with the music – that’s the part you can’t reproduce. A room full of people (or even empty) can shift the vibe in so many interesting ways. If they are dancing (think a rock bar in Spain), you want to keep them up and moving.. and drinking. If they are more subdued (think soft seat theatres) you have the opportunity to showcase some of the more intricate compositions or your softer side.

The dynamic between the venue, the audience and the band plays such a big role in what comes out. As an artist/musician, there is an energy exchange that happens that can push the music in cool directions, sometimes it works out… sometimes not so much hahaha! In the studio it’s a controlled environment and you are aiming for perfection in some sense, and you get as many “do-over’s” as you can afford studio time.

Your first album Send the Nightingale was connected to a deeply personal period involving your mother’s illness. Is songwriting still a way for you to transform difficult experiences into music?

It is, but I also need to close the chapter, in some sense, before I can write about it. I write songs from a story point of view… There has to be a beginning and an end, or at least the writing has to be on the wall, in order for me to properly get a sense of where I want to go with the song. With my moms cancer, it was terminal, I knew it was going to end very quickly, and so songs like Give Me Your Mercy and Take Us Swiftly Home were written largely from the point of view of wanting her to go peacefully and not suffer longer than she had to.

You’ve been nominated several times for the JUNO Awards and the Maple Blues Awards. Do you feel that the Canadian blues and soul scene is finally gaining real international recognition?

I think the music (blues) scene here in Canada is largely pretty healthy and there are a lot of Canadians touring internationally, which is helping. Our government is great at supporting international touring with grants – so we are lucky that way. I think the more Canadian Blues and Soul artists tour internationally the more the awards and momentum here at home are recognized internationally. We have a lot of very talented Artists here in Canada, and the work that we are all doing by touring internationally is definitely bringing attention to it.

« When music becomes too polished or too controlled, it loses its humanity »

Today, many artists are looking for extremely polished and controlled productions. You seem instead to defend a more human kind of music. Is that a form of artistic resistance?

If it is too polished or too controlled you lose the human feeling to the music, and you can really hear it. Little mistakes on a recording, become what others try to re-create decades from now. You can’t fake a vibe. Things like generative AI, Midi, Autotune, Quantizing beats etc are tools. I think we need to be very careful how much we allow it into the creative process. I think the idea is that we don’t replace the human element of the performance (recorded or live), because that is where the magic lives. Live music is the last place where you can tell how much salt an artist is actually worth – if the album is killer but the live show sucks… What’s the point?

At the end of the day, I am not a pop or country star shooting for what is considered commercial success. I am just trying to share my experience of the world with people in hopes that we can find community and a better understanding of the human condition. I write, record and perform to connect with real people.. Not with the algorithm.

A record built for the stage above all else

Recorded during the final show of the Love Is All Around tour across Western Canada in 2022, A Beautiful Buzz captures that unique intensity reached by bands who have spent weeks on the road before arriving at a moment of total cohesion and release on the final night of a tour.

Driven by omnipresent horns, gospel-soaked backing vocals and the stunning voice of Samantha Martin, the album reveals the full collective richness of Delta Sugar. Behind this apparent spontaneity lies meticulous craftsmanship in the arrangements, drawing as much from the great Stax and Hi Records productions as from the rawer energy of contemporary rhythm’n’blues.

Forged through miles, clubs and concert halls, A Beautiful Buzz is a reminder that some music only reaches its full dimension live, in direct contact with an audience. In this constant balance between control and letting go, Samantha Martin delivers a rare and deeply authentic presence.

🎧 Listen to the album on Spotify