By Haley Scott Parker
Samford Cares’ annual Kindness Week is here, and it started with highlighting commercial music students at the Sam Jam concert series.
Sam Jam is a series that senior Bella Allen brought to life during the 2024-2025 school year to showcase students’ musical talents across campus once a month. Originally, Sam Jam was hosted in Bolding Studio. Now, the series is being held in Harry’s Coffeehouse, where Samford Cares and Student Activities set up merch and Cookie Fix to promote Kindness Week.
The first segment of Sam Jam was the song-writing round, where five artists — Eliza Coleman, Kayden Townsend, Sam Holt, Alex Kanaday and Shepard Skellie — alongside supporting instrumentalists gave the audience a glimpse of the work they dedicate so much to.
The artists presented an array of genres, ranging from pop to country. While most of the songs were performed simply with a guitar and vocals, some filled the room with groovy bass lines, booming drums and intricate keyboard riffs.
Shepard Skellie, a sophomore commercial music major, sees Sam Jam as a place for artists to grow and get used to performing for a live audience.
“The goal was to give songwriters and performers an outlet to display their music and comfortable performing. I’ve played at a handful of Sam Jam events. That consists of me playing my own music and playing or singing for others,” said Skellie.
Skellie challenges himself each time he hits the stage by coming to Sam Jam with new music.
“Every time I go on stage for Sam Jam, I have something new and fresh to play, which is important if you want people to be engaged when you’re performing for the same audiences,” said Skellie.
Many students who have participated in Sam Jam are also members of one of Samford’s commercial music bands. Skellie has been a member of three, including the newest country band, Hwy 31.
Commercial music bands have been a way for students to learn the fast-paced work of the music industry while gaining performance experience on and off campus. Sam Holt, another member of Hwy 31 and performer in this month’s Sam Jam, finds the business of the program to be fun.
“This is more than just a little college choir. There’s professional training that we get every day, and we get to go out and perform for people. It’s so refreshing at the end of the day, and it’s refreshing to be a part of a coalition, said Holt.
Artists like Skellie and Holt will be performing with full bands during the next Sam Jam session, which will be held at Harry’s Coffeehouse on March 30 at 7:30 p.m.
