Born Into The Stars... It's Not For All of Us, But I'll Make My Way There

If you followed me on Twitter this passed Saturday then you already know that I did not pass on through to the second callbacks for the Network Television singing competition "The Voice". The entire experience has me still thinking a lot about how it affects the artists when you get out there and try despite your odds. As long as you feel good about you, then that should be all the preparation you need.

I arrived at 6:06am to the stone building under the grey of the rain, power walking as if the mass of people arriving to the same place may make it one spot in front of me. Though I'm an hour early for my audition time I am still behind well over 500 people waiting to make it inside, meanwhile only thinking of how I'm going to keep my guitar dry from the rain during the wait. Finally we slowly started making our way inside the building and it fascinates me how in a time where everyone is competing for a small number of slots we all still come together in support and encouragement for the sake of feeling better about the nerve-racking audition ahead.

"Where are you from?", "What song are you singing?", "What's your style?" and the comfort taken in knowing more about others and their journey to this audition allows us to feel a togetherness while standing in this insane line for over three hours to sing for a man for 45 seconds with the high probability of rejection. I particularly took to this one girl who was in front of me in line, let's call her Kate. After a quick conversation she had picked up on the fact that I had auditioned last year and gone through the process once already. A friendship is born. From that moment on she clung to me with dear life in what I believed was a desperate search for connection amongst the thousands of competitors and honestly, I didn't mind. Kate was extremely sweet and if she was with me standing in line putting herself out there for everyone to hear all I could imagine is that she had the voice to match. Coming across as confident at first, I realized, was just the façade for her true nerves.

"Is this shirt silly?", "Should I change the song I'm singing?", "Hat or no hat?", "Does my hair look too flat, I can pick it up?", "What happens when we get to that room?", "How many people are allowed inside at a time?"... I guess knowledge really is power.
The lesson to this is the more you just get out there and think less about the result and more about the confidence and character you'll build, you will realize how much more prepared you feel for these moments. Her nerves were getting the better of her and it was for small things that at this point could not be changed. What if her shirt wasn't that great, would me telling her that it was not the best really help her at this point? Nope. So I went for the high road and said to just think about the music and be happy with your performance. She was too kind and I almost felt like I had become a mother figure, which I will openly admit gave me more confidence about how secure I felt over the process of going through an audition. It's just a fact that the more you practice something the better you'll get at it.

Bag check lines, registration lines, and waiting until finally we were divided into groups of ten and brought in to audition in front of our Network TV Producer. Last year I left and didn't question it much because though I thought I sang the hell out of my song I didn't think anyone else blew me away, which left me thinking that maybe I didn't blow the judge away either. But after this Saturday I heard some incredible voices that I believed surely would get passed to the second round even if I was not a part of those chosen... but I was wrong. No one from my group made it through. And it just reminds me that we are all in this together with talent and not, like some famous people and their kids now, born into the stars. We have to go through the "no, thank you's" and learn to pick ourselves up for the next audition or the next crowd until we are one day told "You have a callback".

Kate didn't make it either and we never said goodbye, but I saw her before I left the convention center and despite her rejection she had a full family waiting for her with arms wide open congratulating her and expressing how proud they felt of her for going through this difficult selection process. I think having our family and friend's support means the world to us after giving it our all for a one in a million chance, so I felt happy seeing her leave with a big smile on her face.

The point of this entry is not for discouragement, no, but rather to show those out there that I'm human and may not always make the cut, for now. I say in my little blurb on the right hand side of the page that this is to read about the ups and downs of someone that is not walking the red carpet... yet. ;) It's easy to just have the luck of being born into the stars of fame (though they still have the difficulty of proving to us that they deserve to be there) and while real-estate in the star world is tricky to obtain, I'm looking into the market there and I know there's a spot reserved for me.

Singing and Playing Guitar for a New Recording
I'll be there and I'm taking all my followers, readers, fans, family and friends with me for the ride. I don't want you to feel discouraged because of one, two, or 47 rejections. Rather I want it to make you stronger as it made me stronger and left me feeling more knowledgable and confident to go do more. To celebrate the confidence I felt on Saturday I met with my friend and producer yesterday for a recording session of some special treats that I have in the works for my followers. It may take a little longer than usual but it will be well worth it. I am proud to say that after over six years of being in the studio and hearing my voice in a professional setting where no flaws can be hidden, I was finally able to appreciate my voice yesterday without criticism and say "Damn, Sam, that sounds good!". It feels good to believe in myself and know that others believe in me, too, which is why I appreciate you reading.

To make matters better, I got home and hit the gym before celebrating a delicious dinner with Brandon and some late night TV! Nothing like a little work out to always pump up your mood.
'Til the next post!

Auditioning for "The Voice"... Again: Possible Reality Series Superstar!

Here we go again! This Saturday I am going to be getting in line at 6am in the hopes of being chosen among hundreds of thousands of talented individuals - meanwhile praying hopefully that my vocal chords will cooperate at such offensive hours of the morning. It's exciting, scary, long, fun and new, but most importantly it's performing... it's me.

Five months ago I woke up on a bright Saturday morning heading into New York City for my "Voice" audition and to my delightful surprise, see the sunrise in Times Square. If you've ever been to NYC it's doubtful that you've ever seen Times Square for it's full beauty because it's usually filled with tourists, businessmen, fashionistas and taxicabs. But this morning was not like that. It was crystal clear and I was able to admire it for all it's really worth. It's hard to describe unless you see it for yourself, fortunately for you I took a picture for your liking.

Why the picture is so small is beyond me, so I guess you'll still just have to wake up at 5am to see it for yourself one day, it's worth it.

So I made it to the line and I waited... and waited... and waited. Once I finally made it into the building is when things got interesting. But why would I spoil it for you now. I'm doing it again this Saturday (which means you already know how the last one ended) and I will be walking you through every step of the way on Twitter and Instagram (@samjam_music).

Last August I was more timid of being who I was as an artist. And though I gave what I thought was the audition of a lifetime - covering Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving you" - it wasn't enough to push me through to the next round. It's possible that I again don't make it passed the first round, but what's it going to hurt to try. Maybe a Hispanic is what they're looking for this season, it's all about what they're looking for and what kind of viewers they can attract.

Thus, to attempt to win them with my look (if at least that) and up the ante for my competitors I went on a mini outfitting session yesterday.

This is what I wore last year, sans my adorable grandma and cute aunt (dad's side of the family). I love those pants by the way, I don't care how loud you think they might be. Brandon has officially named them my "Fancy Pants".

Above is my mom's personal favorite from the outfitting session, though I may freeze given the less-than-admirable weather up north, so we nicked it. I'll make sure to update you all on what I decide the day of. My posts on Twitter and IG will begin quite early as I mentioned, so if you're sleeping in (which is what any normal person does on a Saturday) make sure to follow my feed to catch everything as it happens in order from beginning to end. At the very least it will be fun to read about the process of auditioning for one of these Network television shows and hopefully it can help you decide if it's something you want to try for the next season! For anyone joining me on my journey it is important for you to know that if you are not chosen and your talent is beyond words, don't let it bring you down. You are amazing and someone someday will realize this and you'll be all they ever want to choose. As long as you can make yourself happy with who you are don't let others rejections shape you.

As always, thanks and hope you enjoyed reading! I'll catch you guys Saturday Morning!

It's A New Year, Let's Catch Up

It’s a new year and a new day so from here on out you’ll be reading a lot about me, my music, my journey, my funny stories, my friends and hopefully you’ll be able to relate and get a good laugh and feel inspired, while enjoying the Minted Tunes. My name is Samantha Bowen, but I’m SamJam to anyone who knows me. I live in Philadelphia, PA with my boyfriend, Brandon and travel to visit my amazing family in Miami, FL often enough to enjoy the beaches and views without getting too tired of the humidity.

What a way to start the new year with the chilly temperatures and snow, but I don’t mind it much as long as I’m indoors. This gives me the perfect opportunity to sit back with some hot cocoa and write to the followers out there looking for something new (Minted) to read.

A Little About Me:
I’m 23 years old and a musician, hence the Minted Tunes, and I live in Philadelphia, PA. Home is way down south at the tip of Florida, also known as Miami.
My parents met in Guayaquil, Ecuador. My mother was born in NYC but studied medicine down there and my father was born in Ecuador and working. They met, the loved, they had me, fairly straight forward. Then moving to the US Hot Spot Miami, FL. For a lot of people reading they may expect some sappy sad story about their divorce, but truthfully, that’s not going to happen. They’re happy wonderful people and I couldn't be more content with our family dynamic. So what, it’s a little stressful sometimes, but who can complain about getting twice the amount of gifts on Christmas?


Back to me, I’m an only child by technicalities, but in reality I have brothers and sisters close to me.

When I was eight years old I started taking music lessons on the advice of my elementary school music teacher at the time. What she saw (or heard) in me, I’m not quite sure because she mentioned the idea to my mom after hearing me sing “The Bunny Song” with all my other schoolmates, who were probably wondering "Why does our education include singing this dreadful song?” . I immediately began learning my third language, music (I am fluent in both Spanish and English). I was part of the Miami Choral Society! It sounded so prestigious, until they quickly changed the name to the Miami Children’s Choir. Kind of a let down because now everyone knew they were coming to listen to kids sing their versions of elementary songs while a man waved his hands in front our faces in the hopes that our eight year old ADD minds would follow before realizing how we’d become performing monkeys… and our parents were paying for it! What a laugh! All jokes aside, I loved being a performing monkey. I loved the applause, the smile on people’s faces, the standing ovations, the request for more and most of all the actual act of performing, singing and making people laugh. Oh wait… I still love all those things.

One year into it, I got my first rejection at the heart wrenching age of 9 when I was told that I was not ready for “Intermediate Choir”. So I continued on in Beginner’s Choir for another year before making it to Intermediate. Two years there and I was off to Advanced Choir, where I was chosen for the kid’s roles in the Florida Grand Opera. Now this was a real stage and at real venues. I got to act and sing and dress up and being chosen, I felt so special. No one mentioned these dreams become harder to fulfill when you’re older?! … I’ll save the ‘live and learn’ bit for later. As I mentioned I was moving on up and most of all, I was learning a lot about how music worked, how to do the fun things like improvise and take on solo parts. I could never admit that I wanted to sing a solo, I’m not sure why, but I had this shy front that I would put on despite how hard I worked to make sure that I worked well with my choir mates. There was one thing I knew for sure though, I was heading to HighSchool, 14 years old now and I wanted to go to Arts School. Yes, I am good at math and science and blah blah blah, but I wanted to be a goofball and prance around singing like the performing monkey I mentioned earlier. Months of practice and training and my audition for New World School of the Arts in downtown Miami had arrived. I could elongate the nervous wreck I was that morning or talk about my ridiculous interview answers, but the point is… I MADE IT and I could not have been happier!


NWSA Senior Show Case (I'm on the far left)
My four years of high school at NWSA could be a whole book in itself so it’s difficult to condense but I’ll mention the most important detail which is that I grew as a performer (and a person) so much. I was so shy when I first started my vocal lessons, simply standing and moving my mouth to expect the wow reaction I had received at age 8, but that wasn't the case anymore. I had to learn more about moving, acting and performing. Let’s just say that by senior year I had mastered my craft… at least among my peers. I had the best class and group of people in my choir and at school. Everyone was always really supportive and talented so you genuinely felt you wanted others to do well and I finally started auditioning for solos.

I remember one time my mom said “Sam, why don’t you audition for more solos and sing out more?” and I said “Well, no one asks me to..”. My mother quickly responded “Sam, no one is going to ask you to be famous…”. Finally, the response I needed to motivate me to get out there and just say ‘hell with it’ if they don’t like me, they don’t like me and I’ll sing elsewhere. After the many awards and recognition I received at New World School of the Arts, I graduated and head to the Northeast (where I’ve longed to go since before I could remember) to Carnegie Mellon University. Another book could be written here about pretty much everything, but this is about the music, the Minted Tunes to follow. I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Economics, a minor in Music Technology and a Certificate in French and Francophone studies. Yes, I studied abroad in Paris, France and had the time of my life, but that’s for another post. The really exciting stuff is how I took on the task of learning how music is recorded and working behind the scenes in the CMU Studio. I pretty much became the Head Engineer’s right hand and gained my new skill of recorded music. It’s with this knowledge that I am able to now record anywhere and everywhere. It's with this how I’ll be able to put my tunes up for you to listen to and comment on.


3am Recording Session at Carnegie Mellon
After I graduated, I worked a bit, then got signed to an independent record label (whole separate post about that to come) then left them and moved to Philadelphia to keep working at an independent music label as an A&R Coordinator, sing and live with my too-good-to-be-true boyfriend that supports my little kid dreams 100%.

The people I met along the way and the troubles and joys I’ve been through to get to where I am today, to feel comfortable enough to put a non-perfected video up of me fiddling around on my guitar is just too long to fit in this post, but no worries I’ll elaborate on the little details of my journey slowly but surely with pictures, laughs and most importantly music. I just wanted to catch you guys up on a bit of me and how I got here.

This video (link below) was taken just two days ago in Miami with my mom. She caught me and I didn't realize ‘til halfway in. I’ll be recording the full version of this Cover sometime this week and will hopefully have it up by the end of next week. I am such a perfectionist that I would never in my wildest dreams put something up that I didn't think was 100% but as my mom says “Fuck it”. It’s a new year and I’m going to get out of my comfort zone to just put myself out there. Take it or Leave it, Love it or Hate it.

Thanks for reading and hope you’ll keep following me and my Minted Tunes ;)

"Please Don't Stop The Music" (Cover) - Rihanna