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Lightning 100 Presents
SAM LEWIS with Katie Pruitt
Fri May 18, 2018 8:00 pm (Doors: 6:00 pm )
3rd and Lindsley
All Ages
$12.00

Like many before him, Sam Lewis came to Nashville to make music. But unlike the majority, Lewis managed to hop on one of the most successful tours that country music has seen as of late. He's collaborated with everyone from John Prine and Kacey Musgraves to The Wood Brothers. Chris Stapleton dubbed him "a modern Townes Van Zandt". And while he's often labeled with some form of the word 'soulful' (some have even compared his voice to molasses), Lewis' style meets at a juncture of many different genres. There's something about Sam Lewis that is indescribably different -- and with his newest project, he's discovered what most musicians spend lifetimes working for -- the place where feel-good music meets vital social commentary. 

 Lewis released his second full- length, Waiting on You, in April 2015. The sophomore was critically acclaimed and once again featured Kenny Vaughan, in addition to Darrell Scott, Gabe Dixon, the McCrary Sisters, and Willie Nelson's legendary harmonica player, Mickey Raphael.

Lewis applied to work at a Post Office in East Nashville but by the time he got a call for a second interview, someone else had called with a more enticing offer: the opening spot for the Traveler release show, Chris Stapleton's Grammy-winning album. From there, life moved fast. Lewis toured with Stapleton for the remainder of summer 2015, and by January 2016, found himself playing sold-out 2 and 3-night shows at venues like The Tabernacle and the Ryman Auditorium.

During that time, Lewis was driving to play a show in Richmond when he spotted a bright, rainbow building just off the interstate. "The building had a word on it, but all I could see was -SITY," he says, "I immediately said 'loversity', even though the sign said 'di- versity'. My friend and I Googled it and it wasn't a real word, but I thought, well, I like that word." A week later, Lewis returned home and immediately wrote "Loversity", which would set the tone for his album.

Lewis' forthcoming record Loversity is set to be released on May 4, 2018. The album is composed of 14 tracks that Lewis has spent over a year and a half writing and playing for others. Since Waiting on You, his classic style remains present yet matured, with a more refined worldview, "These newer songs have been harder to write, but extremely necessary given the current climate I find the world in." Recorded at Southern Ground Studios with engineer and co-producer Brandon Bell, the album spans from upbeat songs like the title track "Loversity" to the darker "One in the Same," an electric guitar heavy ballad with a driving force reminiscent of the Black Keys' Brothers. 

And while each song varies in tone, they all circle back to one universal theme. "This is the closest thing I'll ever write to a concept album. The idea is that we are all trying to get somewhere -- all running from something and toward something. We're all together in it, though." As current events in the world divide the masses based on difference, Sam Lewis' new album is a soul-filled, catchy collection of reminders that diversity and unity can co-exist.