Singer-Songwriter Sam Payne Invited To Join USU's 'At the Performance Hall'

Utah State University’s scholarship benefit concert series features USU faculty and select guests and as the series enters its final two weeks, vocal artist Sam Payne joins the schedule for “At the Performance Hall.” His contemporary folk recordings and live performances have placed him among the region’s select acts.

Payne is featured Monday, June 22, at 7:30 p.m. at USU’s Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door, in advance at the Caine School of the Arts Box Office in the Chase Fine Arts Center, Room 139B, online or call (435) 797-8022.

 

All concert proceeds support scholarship funds in USU’s Department of Music in the Caine School of the Arts. The series was created by Department Head Craig Jessop.

 

Payne performs with USU and At the Performance Hall through arrangements with RLegacy Entertainment, the concert co-sponsor for the music department’s coming Maureen McGovern American Tribute concerts in Utah and Idaho. Jessop said RLegacy is committed to promoting local Utah musical artists through professional public performances. Payne is one of the many talented Utah artists on their roster, he said.

 

Payne has performed for audiences large and small as a solo act or with his band, The Sam Payne Project. He has taken his jazz-inflected folk tunes to halls in Canada, Bulgaria, Tokyo and from coast to coast in the United States.

 

Jessop said he is familiar with Payne’s recordings and said the audience can expect a balladeer with guitar — ala James Taylor.

 

“He is a great entertainer and singer,” Jessop said. “The young people of the area are familiar with him, but he appeals to audiences of all ages.”

 

Reviews for Payne emphasize his skill as a storyteller.

 

Carma Wadley of the Deseret Morning News got right to the point.

 

“Let’s talk about storytelling: Sam Payne is a master at it,” she wrote.

 

Provo’s Daily Herald explored Payne’s style in more detail.

 

“Hence, as a public service to anyone who enjoys, thoughtful, energetic, jazz-inflected folk — and even to people who think ‘jazz-inflected folk’ sounds iffy, but who enjoy a good guitar sound and strong vocals — I am opening the bag and letting out the cat: Same Payne rocks,” wrote Cody Clark.

 

“Payne is one of those few musicians who can successfully combine both songwriting and stage performing,” a review in The Spectrum said. “He can write poignant and meaningful lyrics, combine them with a melodic hook, and perform them in a voice that makes you want to close your eyes and drift away.”

 

The next, and final At the Performance Hall concert is June 29, and features the popular Lightwood Duo.

 

For information on the At the Performance Hall series, contact the Department of Music, (435) 797-3015.

 

 

Writer: Patrick Williams (435) 797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu
Contact: Craig Jessop (435) 797-3015