Sam Zeanah Band

It ain't easy to wrap your tongue around The Sam Zeanah Band, but they way they have infected the 'Burg with a slew of shows and a 10-song recording in a matter of three months, you'd better add them to your vocabulary quick.


Founder and primary song writer Sam Zeanah has been penning ballads since the awkward age of 13. Now at age 21, he feels he's at last gotten to the good stuff. He met David Meigs (bassist and backing vocals) via Pi Kappa Phi and the guys decided to form a band. Through other musical connections, Darrian Douglas (drums), Alan Martinez (piano) and Daniel Schroeder (lead guitar) were added to the lineup to form SZB.

Members:
Sam Zeanah (vocals, rhythm guitar): age 21, Gulf Shores, AL, TV Production major
Darrian Douglas (drums): age 23, Jackson, MS, Marketing major
David Meigs (bass, background vocals): age 22, Claremore, OK, Speech Communication major
Alan Martinez (piano): age 22, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Piano Performance major
Daniel Schroeder (lead guitar): age 22, Ocean Springs, MS, Classical Guitar Performance and Jazz Studies major


With influences ranging from Springsteen to Rachmaninoff (20th century Russian composer), Sufjan to Counting Crows, the SZB sound is what you get when you brew indie pop with classical influences.


Sam gains his writing inspiration from his childhood on the coast and a fair share of heartache.


"We have one track called “Ogygia,” which is the name of the island from Homer’s Odyssey where Calypso lives," he said. "I liken that part of the Odyssey to growing up in Gulf Shores. A lot of the other songs are about being in love with a girl and she just doesn’t love you back. It sucks. It’s hard to get over that. But I did it."


The guys of SZB hope to take their college collab to the next level, with professional ambitions. For now, they're promoting their recent recording made with Russell Welch and Parker Lewellyn and performing around the 'Burg, looking forward to touring with some of the artists under the South City Records umbrella. The album is entirely original and will sell for $10 at the band's upcoming shows. - The Burger

As part of the festivities involved with Eaglefest, and as a kind of rally before the Black and Gold Game, the Legacy and Alumni Association held a T-shirt burning Saturday evening while a local band played for the crowd.

Starting around 5 p.m., the Sam Zeanah Band, which participated in the Battle of the Bands earlier that day, provided the musical entertainment on stage while student members of the Legacy held T-shirts over a barrel fire, occasionally dousing rival college shirts with lighter fluid.

Ryan Kelly, manager of constituent relations for the Alumni Association, said that during membership drives every fall, the Legacy encourages students to bring in old shirts from rival schools to burn during the Friday Night at the Fountain pep rally. Usually, the shirts in good condition are donated to the Salvation Army, Kelly said, but the old and dirty shirts become fodder for the fire.

Legacy Board member and Co-Chair of the EagleFest Committee Amber Peterson, a sophomore public relations major from Gulfport, said they decided to use leftover shirts from last fall as kindling for the spring rally to promote school pride and to welcome the Fedora Era of Southern Miss football.

"A lot of people came out just to support Fedora and hear him speak, primarily because they want to see what he has to bring this year," Peterson said. "I think that's very important because, as students, we want to see Southern Miss rise to the top."

As each of the rival schools' T-shirts were lifted, members of the band encouraged the crowd to join their chant.

"When I say Mississippi State, you say 'Burn!'" said lead singer, Sam Zeanah, into his microphone.

Tiffany Skrmetti, a junior exercise science major from Biloxi and co-chair of the EagleFest Committee, said the Sam Zeanah Band added energy and spirit to the event.

"I think they're great," Skrmetti said. "They just match the atmosphere out here and everything today - it feels like a spring day out here."

"It seems like it's definitely promoting school spirit more so than a lot of other functions I've seen. I wish there were more people here," said Samantha Neal, a graduate student who came to see the band, unaware that T-shirts were to be set ablaze. She found the event amusing and said she wished she had come sooner, and that more of her friends would have come.

"It's Saturday, it's pretty, they should be outside, they should be here right now," Neal said, laughing. - Student Printz