With his debut, Sammy Volkov crafted startlingly original music while taking inspiration from classic 1960s pop. Today he is drawing more on his contemporaries. 

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While taking his first leap into recording with a 2018 independent EP, the Edmonton/Portland artist went to New York City and Los Angeles to follow his other longstanding dream of becoming an actor in 2010. Sammy graduated SUNY Purchase’s prestigious Acting BFA Conservatory. His New York life primarily consisted of production-office work for HBO Max, Showcase, and Warner Brothers TV series while writing songs and performing them at Brooklyn open mics. 

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In late 2019, Sammy contacted producer Harry Gregg and engineer Scott Franchuk back at Edmonton’s Riverdale recorders and said, “Let’s make an album.” What followed was an emotional two-year journey, from initial sessions in 2020, to finishing the album at the height of the pandemic, to finally sharing “Be Alright!” In December 2022. Sammy self-funded a successful professional campaign with three singles, accompanying videos, and full album release culminating with a celebration attended by many friends and Edmonton arts community leaders. “Be Alright!” reached the #1 spot on CJSR, was the first album to debut at #1 on the CKUA Top 30 Chart, and within a month of its release, reached #38 on CKUA’s Top 200 Album Chart for 2022. The album debuted at #19 on Earshot’s National Top 50 Chart. 

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Since creating his debut, Sammy has written and recorded a collaborative album with Dana Wylie called "The Day Had To Come" which topped Bandcamp's "The Best Country Music of 2024" list and reached #8 on CKUA's Top 100 Played Albums of 2024. Sammy has shared stages with Boy Golden, Frazey Ford, Mariel Buckley and many others. He has appeared for the last two years in a row at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, performed at the Calgary and Canmore Folk Festivals, and will be performing as part of CFMF’s Block Heater Concert Series in February. His sophomore solo album, "Songs From the Goodbye Garden," was produced by Renny Wilson (Faith Healer) and is currently in the mixing stage. Sammy was awarded 2nd place for Penguin Eggs / Roots Music Canada Critics' 2023 "New Discovery of the Year."