Samara Yung

Friday, September 12, 2008
Review -- SAMARA YUNG -- Show Me The World
SHOW ME THE WORLD
Samara Yung
Independent
8-out-of-10
Samara Yung is a young singer/songwriter from Yorkton, best known to-date locally for her 2005 win of the GX94 Star Search.
Well that is all about to change for Yung who has taken the first major step toward becoming known for her country music, with the release of her debut CD Show Me The World.
This is a nice first effort for Yung, who has shown some amazing growth in the three short years since her GX win. At the time she recorded the song Boomerang as part of her prize package. That song is included here, although it probably should have been tossed aside because it is easily the weakest cut here. She has simply grown beyond the sort of cotton candy lyrics of Boomerang, and is taking on songs with bigger vocals today.
The first single off the CD was But It Was, also the CD's lead-in cut, one of those safe, radio friendly numbers that really the radio airwaves are full of. Again not the best cut by far here.
Fortunately after the somewhat predictable country start to this disk, Yung finds her way into better music.
Big Ol' Monday Morning and the title track are both solid current country efforts, as is A Horse To Ride, the first two which Yung has co-write credits with Steve Fox. It is encouraging to see this young performer pick up the pen, because often in the long run the best songs come from within the singer who sings them.
Fox, who has his hand in writing a number of the songs here, also produced the album, which was recorded for the most part in Nashville, using solid studio musicians, so the sound comes off as smoothly polished.
Now to get too the cream here. Strong Enough is beautiful love song, and it takes Yung's voice into a different range, and she pulls it off wonderfully, and again Yung and Fox teamed on the writing.
However, the truly best song here is James, John & Joni, a song written by Tim Taylor and Tobi Vos. In a recent interview with Yorkton This Week Yung said, “I kind of fell in love with it the first time I heard it,” noting the title refers to music icons James Taylor, John Lennon and Joni Mitchell. Well listeners are likely to fall in love with this one too. The song is expected to be the CD's next single release.
While Yung may not have taken a lot of risks with this one, she did put together a first album with 13 songs, many which could easily see radio airplay, and that is critical in terms of exposure for an emerging artist.
When you add in Yung's winning smile and beautiful looks, Yung is the total package in terms of what the industry is looking for.
The next CD will hopefully see her take a few more risks in terms of material, and then she will have it all, as it is, she's still darned good.
Keep track of this young lady's career at www.samarayung.ca
-- CALVIN DANIELS

-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Sept. 10, 2008 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
- Yorkton This Week

Yung grabs bundle of SCMA nominations
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By Calvin Daniels
Staff Writer
When you look down the list of 2009 nominees for the Saskatchewan Country Music Association awards, a familiar Yorkton name shows up repeatedly.
Samara Yung, her band, and her manager combine for a total of seven nominations, including Yung herself for Female Vocalist of the Year, Song and Single of the Year for But It was, and Album of the Year for Show Me The World.
The list of nominations has Yung, who is also up for the SCMA Rising Star award, totally surprised.
“It’s very surreal,” she said. “I don’t think its really sunk in yet. I don’t think it will really sink in until sitting there at the awards show.”
Yung said the surprise comes from knowing she really doesn’t have all that much experience in the industry yet.
“I don’t have that much behind me yet. It’s awesome, but really, really surreal,” she said.
Samara Yung has been nominated for several Saskatchewan Country Music Association awards.
Asked if the biggest surprise was the Female Vocalist of the Year nomination? Yung was quick to answer “definitely. But really all of the ones are a surprise to me.”
Yung said even the Rising Star Award, generally thought of as an award for an emerging performer, was a surprise, given that she has only had a year, or so since the release of the CD.
“Often they’ve been doing it for five, six years. It’s just getting started for me,” she said.
“So, they’re all huge surprises and a huge honour.
“There’s just so many talented people in Saskatchewan, so it’s tough just get nominated.”
So which nomination means the most to Yung, Female Vocalist of the Year, or Album of the Year?
“That’s a tough question,” she said.
“Album of the Year, it’s not just one person that wins that award.”
Yung said an album is a group effort. She was the voice, but it would not have happened without producer Steve Fox, the musicians on the album and many others.
“Even dad (Murray Yung) played on the album,” she said.
The Female Vocalist Award is more personal.
“I’ve been singing since I was eight years old,” she said.
Yung is also proud of the single But It Was being up for two awards. Song of the Year goes to the writers, which includes Yung, Steve Fox and Tim Taylor, while Single of the Year is for top song.
“That was completely unexpected,” she said. Noting the song was the first single off her album. “I didn’t know if enough people knew the song to even nominate it. That’s really cool.”
Yung said in terms of the album, it’s always hard to gauge how it rates compared to others, because you are so close to the project for so long, it makes it hard to imagine how others view it.
In the end, Yung said she’ll be happy bringing any of the hardware home.
“To leave with even one is going to be an honour,” she said.
Samara’s mother Ronda Yung is also up for an award for Manager of the Year. Her daughter said she is certainly deserving of the recognition.
“My mom has done so much work. For her to win that would be awesome too,” said Samara.
Yung’s band is up for the Back Up Band Award. The group includes Kurt Neis and Grady Birns on guitars, Lorena Kelly on keyboard, Murray Yung on bass and Terry Stouffer on the drums.
Yung said her band has been very dedicated, willing to travel all over with her efforts to promote her CD, so they had to be nominated as a way of saying thanks.
“To have these great musicians behind me is huge. Knowing they’ll be behind me when I need them is great,” she said.
Yung, as a former GX94 Star Search winner, is not alone in regards to have such a win on her resume among this year’s SCMA nominees. Other former Star Search winners include; Teagan Littlechief for Aboriginal Artist of the Year, Foxx Worthee for Group of the Year, (the band includes former winner Crystal Smith and finalist Nicole Escarnot (Perkins)), and Kelsey Fitch for Rising Star.
Yung said the list of former Star Search winners among the nominees says a lot about the GX94 contest.
“It just goes to show you how much GX does for Saskatchewan country music in general,” she said.
One other nominee with a Yorkton connection is GX94’s Danny Ismond as a finalist for Music Director of the Year.
The award winners will be announced April 26, in Nipawin as part of a weekend of SCMA events.
Yung will be at the award’s show, as well as involved in other aspects of the weekend including taking part in a Songwriter’s Cafe on Sunday afternoon.
“That’s a first for me too,” she said.
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