About

Overhand Sam is a psychedelic indie rock musician from Rochester, New York.

Sam is a founding member of the band Maybird. In 2015 Maybird signed to Dangermouse’s psychedelic indie label 30th Century Records under SONY. The band continued to go on having recorded with the likes of The Black Keys, Patrick Carney, as well as tour throughout the United States opening for Portugal. The Man, The Babe Rainbow, and The Blue Stones. Sam has performed, produced and cowritten songs for Maybird ever since.

Audiences across the United States have noted the spectacle of Sam’s guitar style, playing the instrument with his fretting hand over the fingerboard. Having broken his arm at a young age, Sam began playing with a cast that inhibited his ability to turn his hand over and play in the traditional fashion. The name “Overhand” Sam reflects this truly unique playing style.

In 2016 Sam released his first solo record, Long Legs - A charming Psychedelic array of pop songs, only available on tape cassette & CD. The tape received nice internet acclaim in the blog-o-sphere, complimenting the record's loner lyricism and Hendrix-ian guitar playing. Maintaining a constant tour schedule with Maybird, as well as traveling through the North East as a solo musician, Sam released his follow up Longer Legs in 2017. He would go on to record, mix, produce and master records for dozens of bands throughout the US, specializing in his own homebrew of 1960’s style production.

Overhand Sam, along with Benton Silick (Bass) & Dennis Mariano (Drums) would tour as a three piece primarily through the North East. With the onset of COVID, Sam and the band delayed the release of their third record, Bad Weapon. The record was pressed to Eco Friendly Vinyl in a limited 200 copy run, which sold out within the first month of its release amid the pandemic. This record has yet to be fully released on streaming services, but the singles Fear Itself and Tea & Honey have gone on to be added to hundreds of playlists and streamed thousands of times over. 

The band is currently working on a follow up to the Bad Weapon record, slated for a release in 2023.

• E. Adelsberg for VMusicBlog 2021