 Hey guys, I'm Aiden McKinsey, and I'm here with Sam Atlaker, so today we're gonna be talking about her career in music because she's a musician and she's a songwriter and she does a lot with everything, I don't even know if I could get to describe what she actually completely does. So I guess we're gonna start off with how did you get into your career? So I have always just been one of those people who was really drawn to music from a young age. I even as far back as elementary school, I remember making up melodies and writing lyrics and so it was something I was just always really drawn to and I just always knew I wanted to be creative and have that outlet. So as a kid I would like I said just kind of make up songs and it was really just something I did for fun, but as I got older I found more of my outlet and more of my sound and I was performing in you know plays and musicals as a kid and then that led me to eventually I did some of the Christmas productions at Dollywood and that was where I really got to learn about really just like Dolly Parton in her career was a big eye-opener for me to kind of be like, wow, you know, she started doing what I want to do it around my age and I think that was a really big lesson for me and just kind of like how she got started. So from there that's when I started I picked up a guitar and started like really trying to figure out what I wanted to say as a writer and started really finding my voice so to speak. So it was something that was always kind of in me, but that was what really opened the door for me. Okay, so going back to Dolly Parton, would you say that she's your musical inspiration and she's the one that kind of opened your kind of like she was your idol kind of like in music? Yeah, definitely. She was I think probably the first artist that I really really dove into and wanted to learn about her and Taylor Swift because Taylor Swift she you know started releasing music around the time that I was about eight, nine years old so it was around that age for me so and they're really at least in my lifetime hadn't been an artist yet where they put so much focus on writing and just what it's like to create your own sound so those were definitely my first two big inspirations and I still love them both. Yeah, so if you had to choose a song either in this discography or in someone else's to describe you as an artist which song would you choose? I feel like as far as from the songs that I've written and recorded the ones that describe me I feel like it can honestly change every day. It's hard to just pick one that I feel like really sums me up. I know lately the song that I am connecting with the most that I've written is one called The Light Under the Lamb which is one that I'm releasing later this year. I do seem to be drawn more to story songs so that's probably why it changes a bit for me. Another one going back to Dolly Parton. I've always really connected with Code of Many Colors and that's always a song that I always say I kind of wish I'd written that one. Yeah, that's a good song. So what, tell me your story. So when you, what city did you grow up in in Tennessee? You grew up in New York? Yes, I'm from Knoxville originally and it's just about two and a half hours away from Nashville. So by the time I was about 13 I was able to start making trips to Nashville. And when I would make trips at first I was mainly playing shows. I would maybe come up here once every few months and play a show or two. And then from there I started to meet other songwriters and so then it started to become the trips were more regular. I was coming down here for a week at a time and just spending that week writing. And I feel like those trips growing up were what taught me a lot about Nashville and how the music business works and I feel like I really learned a lot from that. So I'm from Knoxville and I, you know, still before I moved, I live here in Nashville now, but before I moved I was pretty involved with the Knoxville music scene. There's a lot of really cool venues out there. So I would play live shows a lot, but there wasn't really many opportunities for co-writing or collaborating with other musicians. So that was probably the biggest difference, but Knoxville is what kind of gave me my start, but it also gave me that ability to still travel here. So going back to before you moved, what was the biggest challenge converting from Knoxville to Nashville? I think probably the biggest challenge with moving was probably, to be honest, not even music related at all just because I'd spent so much time here, here in Nashville before I even moved. So I kind of felt like I'd found my way and found where I fit in before I even moved here. So that was really nice. So probably the biggest challenge was honestly just the whole, you know, moving for the first time when you're 18 and it's kind of, it's just a big change. So honestly, it was probably just the whole, you know, it's kind of like going away to college or something. It was just so new and it's a little bit different away from your friends. But now definitely I've been here, oh gosh, almost five years now, which makes me feel pretty old, but it definitely feels like home now. So I think it was just that pretty normal having to get used to a new city. Yeah. So when you, okay, so do you write your own songs like all of them? Yeah, I've actually never recorded something that I haven't written. It's not to say that in the future I never would. I think it just kind of worked out that way because the songwriting process was so important to me with, you know, just how I got started. But down the line, I would definitely, if there was ever an opportunity, if I heard a song that I just loved, if I had the opportunity to record it, I definitely would. Especially because there's so many songwriters here in Nashville and, you know, well, just all over really that I admire so much. And so, you know, I may not ever get the chance to write with some of these writers, but I could, you know, still collaborate them, collaborate with them in a way if I'm able to record one of their songs. Yeah. So when you write your own songs, do you sell them or do you like record them for you? Or like, what's the process with after you write the song? Yeah. So it, everyone does it a little bit differently. And that's kind of the cool thing is that you can choose your own path with each song, really. So when I, it kind of goes back to when I first moved here, I had signed a publishing deal. And basically what that means is they own part of the publishing on my song. And in turn for that, you basically get a paycheck to be able to, you know, support yourself and write songs. And they also give you opportunities to have your songs pitched to other artists so that they can hear the songs and hear if that's something that maybe they want to record. And it also kind of goes together when you're an artist, they'll give you, you know, opportunities to meet producers to collaborate with, to meet with other writers who are wanting to really help work with artists from the ground up. So there's so many different ways to do it. I have had some of my songs recorded by other artists. The only way that I personally so far in my career have had that done is if it was a time where I was writing with the artist. So I haven't had a song just completely outside be recorded by another artist yet. But that would definitely be something that I would love to happen in the future. But yeah, that's kind of a cool thing about writing is you can kind of just choose your own path with each song. You know, sometimes I'll go in with an idea and be like, man, I really feel strongly about this one. I feel like this is something I might want to record. And other days it may be like, hey, this is a really cool song, but I'm not sure if I see myself in it. So I might try to, you know, share it with other artists to get their input on it. So it can kind of vary. Yeah. So in your personal life growing up, so who was your personal inspiration? So we already said that, you know, like Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift inspired you musically. So who personally inspired you? I was lucky to have a lot of really just like creative, talented, hardworking people around me in my life. Both of my parents come from a background where they're really into music and, you know, being creative and just into like writing and stuff like that. So it was really cool to already have that foundation within my family and then also just a lot of friends that I had growing up. Like I said, I can't kind of came from that theater and performing background. So I just, I feel like I was always around creative people. So I had a really good foundation growing up just different types of creatives to look at. So when you were growing up, what was what was the first experience you had in recording in the studio and making music actually like recording it? Yeah, I want to say, it's hard to remember my very first time recording. I want to say probably around the time I was 13, 14 when I first started making these trips to Nashville. That was when I started recording some demos of songs that I'd written with a producer named Michael Davy. And I believe that might have been my first experience in a studio. And so usually we would record whatever song we wrote the day of, which gave me a lot of experience in the future just to know what the recording process is like. But yeah, I think I was around 13 or 14 when I first recorded. That's really young. So when you were, did you release anything like publicly? I did briefly back then. Yeah, I ended up putting out an EP around that time. I think I was maybe 14 when it came out. And since then I've actually taken it down just because I'm about to release new music. And I feel like since then, you know, like, like you said, I was so young and I feel like I've really found myself and found my sound. So I kind of wanted just a fresh start, you know, but I still really like cherish that time of my life just because it's such a cool experience that I feel like is pretty unique. And like I said, it just taught me so much. That's awesome. Like when you started so young and then you went around and stuck with it. A lot of people don't stick with that, but you just continued it. Yeah, yeah, you got to do whatever feels right. And it was just kind of once I started, I definitely knew that's what I wanted to do. So that concludes my questions. But would you know I'm singing something? Yeah, I got you. I got you. And I conveniently had my guitar right next to me since we are, this has now become my work area since we're kind of all quarantined right now. I've mainly been writing at home instead of going to other people's studios. So that's been a little bit different. Something that I forgot, like totally forgot, but how has quarantine and COVID not prevented you from like how have you dealt with that from not. Yeah, I guess honestly the biggest difference is probably just the live shows. For the most part they have stopped for the time being of course we don't really know when that'll pick up again. In some ways it's actually been. It's been really interesting to see how you can still make music and it kind of challenges you to see. Okay, how can we all collaborate with each other but do this in a different way like we've been using zoom to do co-rights that's become really, really common and being able to like send tracks back and forth and even doing demos like at home. It's so crazy and so different and it's also kind of given me a little bit of time just to also just kind of play around with like content making because I'm always trying to, you know, film videos and do recordings. And stuff like that so in some ways it's been really cool to have this extra time to kind of explore all that but in some ways I really miss performing live shows so I'm excited to get back to that. But I'll do a song that I am actually releasing on Friday and it's called funny. Only get dressed up for your own reflection If he leads you on it's the wrong direction You don't have to like him when he calls you honey Don't laugh at boys and they're not funny Don't let him tell you no, don't mean no It ain't not to him how far You don't know where nothing just cause he's spending money Don't laugh at boys and they're not funny Cause I almost lost myself Someone is so, so love yourself And don't laugh at boys and don't That's crazy. Thank you. I'm excited for that song to drop. Yeah, thank you. I'm excited to finally put it out. I wrote it a couple years ago so it's cool to see it finally get to come to life.