Sam has accepted that the loss of her voice as it used to be, is probably permanent. As Sam says herself, it’s required a little thinking outside the (voice) box…
By Ian Woolley
credit Steph Dray
“It’s going to be released in January but since my last album was released I’ve since lost my voice so it’s been a very interesting album to make” Sam tells me. “It sounds very different from my last album so I’m very curious to see what people make of it”.
It is, in truth, an unexpected return for Sam Brown but also an actual reclaiming of her voice. Sam’s debut album ‘Stop!’ sold over two and a half million copies and I asked her if she was surprised at how quickly her success came.
“That’s a difficult question. I was surprised it went to No.1 in Holland first of all. But from my point of view, it took a long time to find the right record company as I’d already been working since I was around twelve or thirteen years of age.”
The Brown family (credit Sam Brown)
For those out there that may not be aware, her parents are none other than Joe Brown and Vicki Brown (who was one of The Vernon’s Girls and the Breakaways).
Had they encouraged her to get into the business?
“A bit” added Sam. “My mum more so because I used to work with her again from an early age. Dad was more often than not on tour so we didn’t see a lot of him but of course, I worked with my dad occasionally on the odd gig. It was really my mum who led me into working professionally.
In 2007, Sam unexpectedly lost her voice. “I had a couple of operations to remove polyps but that’s not the cause of the problem. I have never gotten to the bottom of it and have tried lots of different things like voice training. I’ve seen lots of different voice therapists and specialists. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll one day get to the bottom of it but my singing is very limited and I certainly won’t be going out doing concerts.”
Thinking her career may be over, she started her own ukelele school. “As a touring musician and singer, obviously I had to find a new way of making money so I needed a job.”
‘Number 8’ is an ambitious project that proves the power of optimism and self-belief and it’s nice that her brother Pete has had a hand in the mixing of the album too.
Despite the loss of her voice, Sam Brown has recorded an excellent and contemporary-sounding record that her fans will love. In the same month as her new album gets released, she is off to Australia to do some ukelele teaching work for a short while before she comes back to carry on her classes again.”
Read the full interview with Sam Brown in the January issue of the Beat. Order your copy via our website and you could win a copy of her new album by entering our simple competition.
Sam Brown’s new album ‘’Number 8’’ is released on 20 January 2023 along with the first single ‘’Doll’’. The ‘N’ of the title completes the series of six solo studio albums and one live album where the first letters spell out her name (this was coincidental up until the ‘R’ album ‘Reboot’ in 2000, but has been deliberately continued since). You can order it from www.misssambrown.com or the usual download sites and record stores.