Sam Kuhns — 11 October 2023 on Rocket Shop Radio Hour
Sam Kuhns joined host Tom Proctor on ‘Rocket Shop,’ Big Heavy World’s weekly local Vermont music radio hour on 105.9 FM The Radiator.
The main purpose of a tea kettle is to give us fulfillment through warmth and flavor. On October 11th, Sam Kuhns did just that on Rocket Shop with his compelling original music and his tea kettle turned banjo, aka the kettle-jo.
Sam Kuhns is a Vermont based singer-songwriter and musician. He grew up in Chittenden county, initially finding inspiration in music while taking a piano class that taught him basic music theory. He then transferred those skills to the guitar during his freshman year of high school, when his dad gave him his guitar, which he played during his show on Rocket Shop.
“It was played at my parents' wedding,” said Kuhns. “It was played to me and my brother when we were kids for helping us get to sleep. It's got some history to it.”
Kuhns’ style is a unique mix of folk and Americana, with a slight twang that appears in bluegrass or country music. His favorite songwriter is James McMurtry, a Texas based country/Americana artist, and Kuhns disliked country music in high school until he worked on a farm and became more familiar with the genre. He started to like it more, with country-like characteristics appearing in his original music.
Kuhns began his set with a subdued humor and a captivating song, saying “well, I’m a Vermont musician. I figured I’d start off with a song called “Maine.””
“Maine” has a unique intro that incorporates syncopated fingerpicking, slowly building up into a catchy rhythm. His vocals compliment the chords, with tension that builds up and releases throughout various sections, creating dynamics that constantly keep the listener interested.
After he finished the song, when asked about the lyrical meaning, Kuhns replied simply: “Reckless driving, man.” His family has a cabin in Maine, where Kuhns frequently attends rally car driving races, dreaming of one day racing on the course himself.
Growing up, Kuhns always wanted to be a rock star, soon realizing that rock stars need original music, so he started writing after his sophomore year of high school. When it comes to his songwriting process, he thinks of himself not necessarily as a creator, but more of a vessel that the music moves through.
“I feel like I'm more of a song recorder than a songwriter,” said Kuhns, “because I can't just sit down and write a song. It's either being brought into my mind from the universe or it's not and all and you know, my only responsibility is to sit there with a guitar and a piece of paper on a regular basis and be ready for it so that when it comes I can actually catch it.”
Kuhns’ next song was the title track of his album ‘Out of the Forest and into the Trees,’ released in January of 2023. The album was recorded after returning from college and contains twelve songs, his ideal album length. It's a simple and stripped-back acoustic album with a few heavier elements in collaboration with his band, showcasing his unique folk-Americana style with a subtle twang and sincere songwriting.
He described the recording process as relatively easy since he had been playing the songs live for so long, however some of the intros and instrumentals were more difficult to capture. He spoke about perfectionism, saying he didn’t struggle with it during recording, but more so with listening, choosing takes and mixing.
The song “Out of the Forest and into the Trees,” contains some of Kuhns’ favorite original lyrics, detailing his relationship with nature, and how he utilizes the outdoors to connect with himself. It begins with a guitar riff that develops into a slow rhythm, providing a framework for the meaningful lyrics.
“It’s me and mother nature coming to terms,” sings Kuhns. “It’s her teaching me what my soul needs to learn.”
Kuhns discussed playing solo versus with a band, saying he likes solo performance because he has full control over the music, but he likes the collaboration that comes from playing with a band. It provides him with the challenge of getting out of his own head and working with other people.
“[I like] the listening aspect of trying to make sure you're not just off in your own world, because that's where I spend most of my life. So it's a good challenge for me to loop back in and be in touch with the other people that I'm playing with.”
Kuhns is taking a break from his band to focus on other aspects of his life, announcing that Rocket Shop may be his last official show for a while, aside from occasional open mics.
For Kuhns’ next song, he switched instruments to his “kettle-jo,” a tea kettle turned banjo. “I really wanted to learn how to play the banjo,” said Kuhns. “And so like any sane person, I built one.”
The tea kettle had been sitting on a stove in his cabin in Maine, and was never used. While Kuhns was home from college on winter break, he took on the project of building his own banjo using the kettle. The kettle’s handle was made by his Grandfather using a cherry tree, and the fretboard was made of walnut cutoffs from a woodworking project his dad had done. The fretboard has a strip of maple through the center and was originally twice the length, so he cut it in half and his friend used it to make another banjo of his own.
“It was a really cool moment to pull strings across it for the first time,” said Kuhns. “Because I had no clue what it was gonna sound like.”
Kuhns plans to build a mandolin next, and is excited and nervous to take on the project.
Kuhns’ next song, played on the kettle-jo, was “Horse Chase,” an upbeat and exciting instrumental guitar tune full of anticipation.
“It's a kind of Western movie scene where there's this dude on a horse,” said Kuhns. “And he's just like, racing through the desert and there's mountains in the distance. And he's got to make it to those mountains. And there's like evil guys chasing him from behind. You can see them on the horizon behind him and they're making a cloud of dust and he's like, just absolutely haulin’. And yeah, that's just kind of the imagery that I think of whenever I play this one.”
Kuhns finished off the set with an impactful song called “Birds of the Future.”
“This is a song that came to me last April,” said Kuhns. “I had a pretty life-altering experience that changed my perspective on a lot of different things, and it made me realize that I had to change my perspective.”
He was sitting in his bedroom looking out his window when he noticed a crabapple tree full of small gray birds.
“This fire engine drove by with all its lights and sirens on, and like, half the birds freaked out and flew away, and the other half stayed put like nothing had happened. I was just like, ‘those are the birds of the future.’ You know, the birds that are not scared off by massive change.”
Text by Keagan Lafferty
Monochrome photo by Ross Mickel