Sam McClain was born on the northern edge of the Bible Belt in Monroe, Louisiana in 1943. As a five year old, he began singing in his mother’s Gospel Church. It was then that he realized singing was his mission. He left home when he was thirteen to escape an abusive stepfather and
followed local R&B guitarist, "Little Melvin" Underwood through the Chitlin
Circuit, first as his valet and then as lead vocalist himself at 15.
From cotton
fields to the Apollo Theater to the park bench, all while living the songs
that would jump-start his career in the mid-1980. New Orleans own, Neville
Brothers extended themselves at this lowest of times. Sam was offered a
chance to tour and record in Japan in 1989. "Live in Japan", featuring
legendary Wayne Bennett is a fine recording, much sought after by fans
worldwide.
By the early 1990's Sam networked his way to New England. Sam started to take back his career in 1996 and turned to managing himself.
His publishing company, Emily's Son Publishing, has been licensed since 1993. In
1998 Sam had two releases, "Journey" (AQM) and "Joy and Pain -Live in
Europe" on the CrossCut label. "Soul Survivor -The Best of MSM" was his
farewell to AudioQuest in 1999. ("Journey" and "Soul Survivor" both include
"New Man in Town", featured on David E. Kelley's Ally McBeal on FOX-TV). And now, the last step of his independence has been realized through
the creation of his own label, Mighty Music which release his CD "One More
Bridge To Cross" in February 2003. His newest project, "Betcha Didn't Know"
which reveals yet another side of MSM was released in July 2009 on Mighty
Music with City Hall Records as the distributor. Sam greatly appreciated
the nomination of this CD by The Blues Association as "Soul/Blues Album
2010".
2008 brought Sam into the "Give US Your Poor" project, benefiting the
homeless. He co-wrote "Show Me the Way",
where he and Jon Bob Jovi sung this
stirring anthem as a duet. He continues to work with this project,
performing at both The Lincoln Center, New Your City and at The Kennedy
Center in Washington and other venues, sharing the stage with Natalie
Merchant, and the smashing Greek tenor, Mario Frangoulis as well as others.
In early 2009, MSM was asked to record a CD of
duets with Iranian folk vocalist Mahsa Vadhat. The resulting CD, "Scent of
Reunion-Love Duets Across Civilizations" (www.kkv.no) reached #6 in the
European World Music Charts and this is a Mighty Sam McClain that has never
been heard before! Mahsa and Sam have had concerts in all over the globe to celebrate
this music. Sam and the guitarist for this project, Knut Reisersrud, have
collaborated on a CD that has been nominated for a Grammy in Norway.
Also,
Sam has sung the theme song for Ernest Thompson, (the Oscar winner for "On
Golden Pond") for his new film, "Time and Changes. "Find the Sun" is a song
written by Thompson and Joe Deleault (keyboards in MSM's band) but is
recognizable a song that Sam has made his own. Furthermore, he will have a
cameo in the film, singing it! To top it of, Sam has recorded another
CD-ready to go, called "Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey)" and the next
music in the works. Pat Herlehy (Sam's guitarist) and MSM have a deep
connection that is producing some great music.
Mighty Sam McClain is in control - of his life and career as he continues to
perform nationally and internationally. It's full steam ahead for this great
vocalist! "The Soul of America" is what he is called in Europe - he is, just
as his lyrics describe, "I'm a singer, a man with a song.and I've got a
message for you."