Biography

In 1986 I was on a train in Cuzco, Peru that was blown up by terrorists. It killed the people I was sitting with. I had a cut artery, brain damage, blown in ear drums and should have died but I didn’t.

I had lots of surgeries. Lots of ups and downs.
Then lots of jobs, lots of bills. I moved constantly.
The east coast, the midwest, the desert. I tried to
figure out what it means to be blown up- to survive when others die. I wrote a lot. It was mostly drivel.

But with the drivel came songs. They were mostly about other people. Kids having kids, old people, drunks in love, a barber with no nose, strangers, friends, and lovers. But there were also songs about getting blown up.

My first record was mercy. It came out in 2004. I had terrible stage fright. In 2007 pretty world was released and in 2009 cotton. They formed a rough trilogy that I later called the mercy trilogy. The big theme was:

'everyone is at the mercy of another one’s dream.'

This record is called say grace. It is the same as the other records but different. Just like life. The same but different.

To say grace is to say thank you. It means to be grateful for what is before us- for what we have. It means to not be bitter about what we don’t have and really, to not be bitter about things lost.

I turn 59 this year. Everyday is a miracle.
---Sam