The classically trained, Marshall-based pianist and songwriter on Friday released her first full-length album, “Plainsong.” The back story on this emerging Michigan artist to watch.
From a Church Pipe Organ to Piano-Propelled Acoustic Pop Beauty: Sammie Hershock (Courtesy Photo)
SCROLL DOWN TO LISTEN TO TRACKS FROM THE NEW ALBUM
Sammie Hershock is carefully maneuvering her Jeep around the cement pillars of a parking garage.
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
It’s an ascending labyrinth of concrete and steel with fluorescent lights.
She finds a spot and angles in. Then unloads her gear from the back: a keyboard, stand and amp — which seems like a lot of equipment for the afternoon radio show she’s performing at.
But when taking into account that she also plays the pipe organ – an instrument that’s traditionally built into the architecture that surrounds it – it’s a light load.
The New Album
On Friday, Hershock released a new full-length record, “Plainsong.” Written and produced in the evening hours after putting her kids to bed, Hershock composed many of the songs on the same grand piano she grew up playing.
“I would just wait till everybody went to bed and start playing. This record feels more vulnerable than others before. I guess it’s sort of about a spiritual journey,” she surmised.
“I spent a lot of my life feeling like I needed to have concrete answers for many of life’s questions. It sort of bled into my art.”
The album was live-tracked and mixed by Ian Gorman at La Luna Recording & Sound in Kalamazoo, then mastered by Zeno Pittarelli.
Session musicians included Anthony Komasara in guitar, strings by Maria Skidmore, percussion by Mike Shimmin and organ by Mike Lynch. Annie Bacon provided backing vocals for the song, “Goddess Now.”
LISTEN: Sammie Hershock, “Goddess Now”
GOING THROUGH ‘DIFFERENT PHASES OF SPIRITUALITY’
After her releasing her debut EP, “The Giantess,” in 2021, Hershock’s first full-length release was “born out of questions and searching for answers.”
Now, after loading into the venue and sound-checking, Hershock sits at an elevated booth with a small cafe table and a battery-powered candle in the center. We talk about community and being raised in the church.
Hershock lived in Farmington Hills until she was 11, when her family moved to Marshall, a story-book kind of town with a fountain and a clock at its center. It’s the kind of place that teenagers would dream about “getting out of,” said Hershock, who’s also a music teacher.
Loving Marshall: Hershock says it’s a supportive community. (Courtesy Photo)
Yet, she stuck around. She met her husband at the annual Christmas parade. When they started a family, they decided to stay in the area.
“My family lives there. But it’s more than that. It’s a good community. I love raising kids in Marshall. It’s beautiful, it’s homey, pretty much everyone is very sweet and welcoming,” Hershock said.
“You walk down the road and see a million people you know. And for a small town, they do a great job of supporting and highlighting the fine arts, too, which I love.”
Hershock grew up singing and playing in church on Sunday mornings. It taught her the importance of community and nurtured her blossoming musicianship, aspects that carried over to her life outside the walls of organized religion.
“I went through different phases of spirituality. But I think now for me, piecing it back together looks more like finding the things from my experience with religion that were valuable, out in the community,” Hershcock said.
“In church, I loved regularly being able to make music with people. I love the organ. And hymns and traditional church music.”
Hershcok would go on to study the pipe organ in college, an instrument requiring the utmost discipline and dexterity.
“My professor was literally one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had. That instrument is incredibly powerful. You feel like the Wizard of Oz,” Hershock said.
“It also made my head hurt if I practiced for too long and I realized that I really loved the music that was written for the piano, so I ended up going back to that. Really because it was like my comfort instrument and my first love in a lot of ways.”
There’s not a whole lot of pipe organ on her new record. But there is plenty of piano and love. Set to delicate acoustic instrumentation, “Plainsong,” navigates the landscapes of seeking, growing and healing.
“This record was born out of questions and searching for answers. And I think what I realized is that sometimes the questions are an answer,” Herehock said.
“Our uncertainty is a teacher and not a bad thing. So I guess if I can say what I want people to take away from the record is that it’s OK to not know.”
LISTEN: Sammie Hershock, “Paradise Found”
Copyright 2024, Spins on Music LLC
