Music is essential.

And that’s why we’re excited to share the next episode of River City Sessions. This month, we’re sharing an original song titled “Papi Chulo,” by South Louisiana natives Sydney and The SAMS. Read more about the band, the song, and how it was recorded below.

Follow Sydney and The SAMS here!

Give us some background on yourself and the band. How long have you guys been making music?

We have been a band surprisingly for less than a year! I think we have a natural friendship and chemistry that makes people think that we’ve been together for years.

Follow Sydney on Instagram

“Papi Chulo” Such a great song! Can you tell us when you wrote it? What’s the inspiration? 

“Papi Chulo” was actually the first song I ever wrote! I (Sydney) recorded three years ago when I first started making music. When we got together as a band, we started incorporating some of my originals into our sets and this song became an instant hit with our fans. 

“Papi Chulo” is about liking a guy and wanting to hang out and smoke. It was actually about a guy I liked at the time and all we did was hang out in the car and talk.

Does writing a melody come naturally to you? 

It depends. The beat has to be catchy. I have to find the melody and it kinda has to come to me. If I don’t feel it in a few minutes, I usually move on. 

Where do your ideas for songs come from? 

All my music comes from personal experiences. I feel like songwriting is therapy to me. The fact that it’s relatable to listeners is just extra. It feels good to know my lyric is relatable and people have been in the same positions as me and felt like I’ve felt at some point. That’s the point of music; to touch people in some way whether it be a happy emotion or a sad one. 

Can you describe the first time you wrote a song?

I found this cool beat on YouTube and just started writing. It’s always something I’ve wanted to do but never really tried to do. One day I was like, “whatever, I’ll try.” I did a rough record on my phone and sent to NJ (my engineer) and told him “If this sucks, tell me. If not, I wanna book a session.” And it’s been history ever since.

Do you prefer performing your own music or covers? What’s the difference? 

I enjoy both because even when we do covers, we always put our own little spin on it or rearrange it so it’s more our own. We also do medleys with our originals to kinda bring the crowd back and make them interact with us. Ultimately it’s about having a good time and making sure the crowd has an amazing, memorable time. 

How has the Coronavirus affected your music? 

We used to gig so much and it really put all our gigging and traveling at a complete halt. At first it was creatively discouraging but we decided to virtual concerts to continue to perform and connect with our fans in a different way. People really loved them and received it really well. Livestreaming  is a way for us to reconnect and stay fresh. It also gave us time to finish our EP which will be released this July!

Follow Sydney and THE SAMS

Now that the coronavirus has thrown a wrench in everything, What do you miss most about performing live? 

I miss having fun with the crowds mostly. Dancing and singing with them was the most fun part of it all. As a concertgoer, that was my most memorable time and now as an entertainer, I want every person in the room dancing and having an amazing time! I hope we do that every time.

Do you plan on doing any live streams? 

We’ve done two live-stream virtual concerts. We’ll be live streaming our EP release concert and party as well. So y’all join the fun!

WATCH the performance here.

Connect with Sydney and THE SAMS on Facebook

Follow Syndey on Instagram!

Last November our friends Molly and Denton got hitched! A few days before their wedding, they stopped by River City Studios to record another River City Session. They recorded an original song titled “Bartending” written by Molly Taylor. Thank you, Molly and Denton for taking the time out of your busy week to join us and share your song.  Read more about Molly and Denton’s track below and learn how audio engineer Wesley DeVore, recorded the song.

Follow Molly on Instagram!

Follow Denton on Instagram

Give us some background on yourself. How long have you guys been making music?

We have been writing and performing our own music separately for over 15 years now.  We started performing together about 2 years ago and we got hitched last November!

“Bartending!” Such a great jam! Can you tell us when you wrote it? What’s the inspiration? 

Molly wrote the song because she worked as a bartender for 10 years! If you ever stopped by a bar in Baton Rouge, chances are Molly’s served you!

Does writing a melody come naturally to you? 

Writing music is something that comes naturally to Denton and I. We are both individual songwriters with different ways of writing a song. It’s interesting and fun to connect and work with a partner to create a song that you both feel great about.

Do you prefer performing your own music or covers? What’s the difference? 

We definitely love performing our own music but we love doing a good cover of a great oldie as well!

How has the Coronavirus affected your craft? 

Due to restrictions in place because of Covid-19, we’ve had to cancel over 30 shows for us so far so it has affected us big time. We are ready to hit the road and start performing again!

Watch their River City Session here:

Wanna know more about how their session was recorded? Hear from the audio engineer, Wesley who captured all the magic here:

Gear used:

• ioStation 24c

• Studio One Professional 

• PX-1 Microphones 

In celebration of our 25th anniversary, last month we announced our new YouTube series the River City Sessions. The River City Sessions give us a chance to support the kind of musicians that help build our company and share their work with a global audience. This month features Donald Gelpi aka. The Big Burly Man, performing his song “Holy Ghost.”

You may be curious about where the name “The Big Burly Man” came from (so were we) so we took some time to get to know the man behind the beard and more about his songwriting and this haunting song.

Big Burly Man performs original song “Holy Ghost”

Tell us about yourself. How long have you been making music? Who are some of your inspirations? Who did you grow up listening to?

About 18 years now.  My inspirations span all over the place. From Fats Domino, Nick Drake, Van Morrison, Louis Armstrong, Elvis, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, The Beatles, Bob Marley, and Led Zeppelin to newer artists like Damien Rice, Gregory Alan Isakov, Ray LaMontagne, Iron and Wine, The Tallest Man On Earth, The Lumineers, Jose Gonzalez, Ben Howard, and many, many more. 

Besides my rap and alternative rock stage, I really had my first musical shock listening to Led Zeppelin around 16. I was really into them, and still, love them today. I had also gotten into other classic greats like Jimi Hendrix, which got me into, Bob Dylan from loving “All Along the Watchtower.” That kind of started the whole folk-singer songwriter thing for me. 

Where did The Big Burly Man come from? It’s a great name! 

Thank you! Some years back I had written a song called “The Big Burly Man.” It was about me, and at the time it was kind of a hidden moniker. It had been on my mind to possibly start performing under it for a couple years. Some of my favorite artists go under stage monikers, and it was a lot more common for artists to do it back in the day. A lot of those old blues players did it too. It’s almost like being a character, as a part of this whole creative idea. I don’t know, it just seemed fun and cool. 

Tell us about the song you performed for the River City Session. When did you write it? What’s the inspiration? 

I wrote it towards the end of October of 2019. It’s got this haunting sound to it, and it was around Halloween, so naturally, I was thinking about ghosts and things like that. I’ve gotten a lot closer to God over this past year, and I thought how great would it be to have this haunting sounding song referring to the most epic ghost or spirit of all. Holy Ghost, I thought. I love it. 

What’s the best song you’ve ever written? Why is it the best? 

It’s difficult to say. “Holy Ghost” is up there. Another song that I would naturally think of first is “C’est La Vie.” It’s a very upbeat and catchy song soaked in heartfelt lyrics and truth. It’s a local fan favorite too. 

Tell us about a successful show or event you were a part of.

It wasn’t without mishaps, but this past October. I had the honor of putting together my very own music festival. It was called “Baton Magique.” It was an Indie Folk Festival at Tin Roof Brewery. It was a lot of work, but we had a pretty great turnout for its first time around, and I received a lot of fantastic feedback from folks which made it all worth it for me. I was also very fortunate to have a few local musicians who were involved pitch their ideas and help with the process. It’s a beautiful thing.

Who is your dream collaboration? 

Just one? Ha! It would have to be Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Damien Rice, or Gregory Alan Isakov. There are many others, but you don’t have all day. 

What do you enjoy most about making music? What do you hate most? 

The magic of it all! It truly seems that way. When I write a new song, it’s like getting a new toy or something. I just can’t put it down. It feels like Christmas morning. It’s an absolutely thrilling experience! God is the creator. He loves to create. It’s not too far fetched to imagine why we love to create different things too. Mine just so happens to be simple folk songs. 

I wouldn’t say I hate it, but the only part that feels like work is promoting my music, and trying to get folks to come out to a show. There’s also always a lot of “it’s who you know gets the good show” going on behind the scenes. I know that happens everywhere though, but it’s tough sometimes. That’s why I’m super grateful y’all chose me. Y’all didn’t know me, or owe me any favors. Thank you!

If you could change anything about the music industry, what would that be? 

I’m not sure I’d change too much. It is what it is. And the way it is is due to many factors and reasons. I’m thankful just to do my small part as big as I can do it. 

What advice do you have to anyone getting into the music scene?

Create the kind of music that inspires you! If you feel that lantern being lit and burning from the inside, you’re doing it right.

Watch his performance here:

Learn more about capturing The Big Burly Man’s intimate sound from the engineer Kyle.