Sam Outlaw

About

Sam Outlaw’s third full-length album, Popular Mechanics, announces a creative reinvention for the “SoCal Country” singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. Inspired by family bonds and the great innovators of the 20th century, his latest project signals a restless desire to explore another side of himself.

“I wanted to do something I’d never done before,” he says. “A sound that fuses the country music elements I love, like the pedal steel, to the bombast of 1980s pop production: fretless bass, synthesizers, drum machines, and stacked vocals. My goal was to incorporate the full spectrum of my influences.”

The ambitious direction of Popular Mechanics may seem like a sudden shift from Outlaw’s country-leaning albums, Angeleno (2015) and Tenderheart(2017), but the gears actually started turning in early 2018 after Outlaw shelved some new material he recorded in Southern California. He recalls, “We ended up with some really great stuff, but I wasn’t satisfied. The songs felt like the beginning of something new but not the complete picture. I was also burned out from non-stop touring and my home life was suffering, so I decided to take a breath.

At age 33, Sam released his debut album “Angeleno” in 2015. Produced by Ry Cooder and Joachim Cooder, “Angeleno” introduced Sam as a distinctly assured voice in the Country and Americana scene. The album garnered awards and critical acclaim from countless outlets. His follow-up album, “Tenderheart,” gave Outlaw his first foray into self-producing and further evolved his “So Cal Country” sound by introducing more elements of mainstream pop music.