New Orleans-based project Mr. Sam & The People People announce a new album People People People People! to be released September 23, and share the title track in the form of an official music video directed by Burt Murder. A fitting entrance into the album, “People People People People!” is a refreshingly earnest ode to life’s simplest pleasures. Mr. Sam & The People People will tour the Pacific Northwest alongside Chris Acker & The Growing Boys this August; details are below.
watch "People People People People!" official video
pre-order People People People People
Songwriter and frontman Sam Gelband shares, “I was driving across the neighborhood to visit with a friend and I hadn’t put my seat-belt on, so my car was very politely scolding me for safety’s sake by going “ding. ding. ding.” I started humming a melody along with the tone, and I wiggled a bit in my seat. I got out of the car, had a very short and sweet visit with my buddy, got back in my car, kept my seatbelt off just to hear the ding again, and hummed the tune all the way back home, teasing the speedometer above the 10 mph mark to keep it ringing until I could sit at the piano and work it out. I wrote the song as an anthem for the project - a simple set of words for the sake of the simple moments with our loved ones and neighbors.”
Gelband has described his music as "songs for enjoyment and medium dancing" and "music to phone a friend to.” His baritone croon wraps around a listener like a warm hug on a cold night, recklessly sincere with a lyrical focus reliably invested in the everyday whimsy: a bike ride with a pal, a joke with a neighbor, a sunny drive with the windows down. With the help of New Orleans longtime friends and musical aces including Sam Doores of The Deslondes, Gina Leslie, and The Lostines among others, the band create a boisterous joy—an analog stew of rhythm & blues, indie rock, folk singer-songwriter, psych twinges, and jangle pop. Upcoming album People People People People! is a raucous jaunt, both rare and infectious in its unbridled bliss.
Of the upcoming full-length, Gelband shares, “I hope that when you listen to this record, you think of somebody or something you care deeply about, and that you remember that they care deeply about you, too.” He elaborates, “The aim is not just to demonstrate my own gratitude and celebration for these things, but to offer the foundation of these feelings to you. If you walk away from the thirty minutes of this record remembering to pick up the phone and call somebody you love, I say mission accomplished.” Read the full album bio here.
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watch “People People People People!” official video
press image by Gina Leslie
read the full album bio
pre-order the album
TOUR DATES
with Chris Acker & The Growing Boys
August 5 || Port Townsend, WA @ Uptown Pub
August 6 || Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
August 7 || Whidbey Island, WA @ Bailey’s Corner Store
August 8 || Portland, OR @ Laurelthirst
August 9 || Portland, OR @ Laurelthirst
August 10 || Eugene, OR @ Sam Bonds
August 11, 12, 13 || Bellingham, WA @ Subdued Stringband Jamboree
