Biography
Sam Owens, performing under the Sam Evian moniker, draws on late-'60s and '70s touchstones such as George Harrison, Levon Helm, and Shuggie Otis for both his sonic approach and his songwriting. Formerly the singer and guitarist in the indie rock outfit Celestial Shore, Owens has also built a parallel career as a recording engineer and producer. After Celestial Shore issued two albums during the first half of the 2010s, he launched the Sam Evian project in 2016 with Premium, an album steeped in the textures of eight-track-era production and showcasing his affinity for period instruments. The 2021 follow-up, Time to Melt, pushed further into warped funky soft rock while folding in sociopolitical concerns modeled on the work of John Coltrane and Marvin Gaye. For the 2024 release Plunge he turned again to Harry Nilsson and George Harrison alongside psychedelic and power-pop reference points, shaping an album centered on family and closely related subjects.
Based in New York, Owens works as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist while also functioning as a studio engineer; in the early 2010s he took part in constructing Brooklyn’s Figure 8 Recording Studios and remained on staff as house engineer. His wide-ranging influences include the Band, Shuggie Otis, Cate Le Bon, and Cass McCombs, the last of whom he has produced. In the late aughts he formed Celestial Shore alongside bassist Greg Albert and drummer Max Almario; the group began releasing EPs and singles in early 2011. Their first full-length, 10x, appeared on the Hometapes label in 2013, followed by Enter Ghost in 2014, both marked by a fusion of '60s pop and off-kilter improvisation. During the same period Owens contributed guitar and keyboards to recordings by Palehound and Here We Go Magic while establishing a steady presence at Figure 8.
To distinguish himself from other artists sharing his given name, he adopted Sam Evian for his solo debut, Premium, which enlisted Dan Iead on pedal steel, Brian Betancourt on bass, and Austin Vaughn on drums, plus saxophonist Eddie Barbash of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert house band, vocalist Hannah Cohen, and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, owner of Figure 8. Saddle Creek Records issued the album in 2016. The 2018 successor, You Forever, was tracked with Betancourt, Vaughn, Cohen, and guitarist Adam Brisbin inside a rented house using an eight-track reel-to-reel machine, preserving the project’s amber-tinted character.
Before returning with his third Sam Evian album, Owens produced Molly Sarlé’s Karaoke Angel (2019) and Anna Burch’s If You’re Dreaming (2020). Time to Melt arrived as a still woozier and more virtuosic statement, again drawing on many previous collaborators while adding Chris Bear of Grizzly Bear, Jon Natchez of the War on Drugs, and Spencer Tweedy. After establishing his own Flying Cloud Studios inside a barn in the Catskills, he captured the next album in loose sessions that avoided playback and kept overdubs minimal, leaning more explicitly on '70s singer/songwriter models. Friends Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief, El Kempner of Palehound, and Liam Kazar participated. The resulting Plunge appeared in March 2024 on his own Flying Cloud Recordings imprint in partnership with Thirty Tigers.
Based in New York, Owens works as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist while also functioning as a studio engineer; in the early 2010s he took part in constructing Brooklyn’s Figure 8 Recording Studios and remained on staff as house engineer. His wide-ranging influences include the Band, Shuggie Otis, Cate Le Bon, and Cass McCombs, the last of whom he has produced. In the late aughts he formed Celestial Shore alongside bassist Greg Albert and drummer Max Almario; the group began releasing EPs and singles in early 2011. Their first full-length, 10x, appeared on the Hometapes label in 2013, followed by Enter Ghost in 2014, both marked by a fusion of '60s pop and off-kilter improvisation. During the same period Owens contributed guitar and keyboards to recordings by Palehound and Here We Go Magic while establishing a steady presence at Figure 8.
To distinguish himself from other artists sharing his given name, he adopted Sam Evian for his solo debut, Premium, which enlisted Dan Iead on pedal steel, Brian Betancourt on bass, and Austin Vaughn on drums, plus saxophonist Eddie Barbash of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert house band, vocalist Hannah Cohen, and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, owner of Figure 8. Saddle Creek Records issued the album in 2016. The 2018 successor, You Forever, was tracked with Betancourt, Vaughn, Cohen, and guitarist Adam Brisbin inside a rented house using an eight-track reel-to-reel machine, preserving the project’s amber-tinted character.
Before returning with his third Sam Evian album, Owens produced Molly Sarlé’s Karaoke Angel (2019) and Anna Burch’s If You’re Dreaming (2020). Time to Melt arrived as a still woozier and more virtuosic statement, again drawing on many previous collaborators while adding Chris Bear of Grizzly Bear, Jon Natchez of the War on Drugs, and Spencer Tweedy. After establishing his own Flying Cloud Studios inside a barn in the Catskills, he captured the next album in loose sessions that avoided playback and kept overdubs minimal, leaning more explicitly on '70s singer/songwriter models. Friends Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief, El Kempner of Palehound, and Liam Kazar participated. The resulting Plunge appeared in March 2024 on his own Flying Cloud Recordings imprint in partnership with Thirty Tigers.
Albums
Singles
