Sundilla introduces another award-winning young performer to Auburn when Sam Robbins takes the stage on Friday, April 5. Showtime at the AUUF is 7:30, and $20 advance tickets can be found at Spicer’s Music, Ross House Coffee, Foodie’s. and online at sundillamusic.com; admission at the door is $25. Students with an ID can pay just $15 at the door, and children 12 and under get in free. There will be free coffee, tea, water and food, and everyone is welcome to bring their own favorite food or beverage.
Sam Robbins looks young because he IS young, but don’t let that fool you. He is often described as an “old soul singer songwriter” whose music evokes classic 70’s singer songwriters like James Taylor and Neil Young, Sam adds a modern, upbeat edge to the storyteller troubadour persona. An avid performer, he has gained recognition from extensive touring and as a winner in the 2021 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk competition, one of the largest and most prestigious songwriting competitions in the country.
Since moving to Nashville in September 2019 following his graduation from Berklee College of Music, Sam has made a splash in music city – performing at the Bluebird Cafe within a month of moving, and sitting in again at the legendary venue with Liz Longley in February, and winning the Eddie’s Attic Songwriter’s shootout competition in Atlanta in early March 2020.
Sam considers himself a student of songwriting, constantly searching and learning about why songs have the impact they do. A 2019 graduate of Berklee College of Music’s songwriting department, he has hosted many songwriting workshops and masterclasses, including at the Harvard Music Department and the Boys & Girls Club of Boston. In his performances and workshops, Sam explores the magic behind the craft of songwriting, and tries to help others express themselves through the unique and powerful medium of songwriting.
Americana Highways writes: “He writes of subjects that others don’t explore. Saying Amen has Robbins touching that special place Leonard Cohen went. This is brilliance.” Fateau Magazine in the UK writes “One of the most promising new songwriters of his generation.” And from V13 comes “He pays his respects to legendary artists such as James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Jackson Browne. Robbins attempts to rekindle that vintage sound and make it fit within our current times.”