WHEN singer-songwriter Sami Cooke moved to Newcastle from Canberra two years ago she initially found the city’s music scene difficult to crack.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pop-country artist wasn’t used to Newcastle’s agency-dominated scene, having previously toured Australia, New Zealand and North America with her mother Janelle handling her bookings.
“Every venue is booked by an agency so it took me about three months to get my foot in the door and get an audition with an agency,” Sami says.
However, it didn’t take long for Sami’s energetic performance and bubbly personality to win over Hunter music punters.
On Monday Sami will release her latest single Crazy Love, the title track off her second album, set to drop on April 7.
It follows the 22-year-old’s debut album Every Passing Minute released in 2013.
In 2016 Sami’s single I Just Want To Love You cracked No.5 on the iTunes country chart and last year she released the breezy pop track Summertime.
On Crazy Love Sami worked with several songwriters, including Sydney’s Steve Deal (Sydney) and Newcastle duo Dane Baldwin and Troy Kemp.
“There’s really just a mix of sounds,” she says. “Some are very poppy, some are very country and some are very rocky as well. I’ve tried to keep it pretty diverse.”
Sami began performing in her teens in her hometown of Young and soon attracted the attention of the Country Music Academy in Tamworth, where she was a graduate in 2011.
Once she finished school she opted to expand her musical education on the road.
“I lived in a camper trailer for a year when I finished school to travel around Australia and basically test whether music could be my full-time job,” she says.
The experience firmly cemented Sami’s desire to pursue music as a career.
These days Sami performs three gigs at week throughout the Hunter and Central Coast while juggling her Bachelor of Communication degree, majoring in journalism and media production, at the University of Newcastle.
Sami Cooke launches Crazy Love on April 7 at the Small Ballroom.