Sam Grow

All of us can remember moments that changed our lives and hopefully the lives of those we love.

Ask Sam Grow and he’ll tell you he’s had maybe 3. The first came in high school, when his father agreed to buy Sam the guitar he desperately wanted — but only on one fateful condition. The next came the day he first held his newborn daughter, a moment that prompted him to make a special vow he has kept ever since. And the third involved his decision to become a fully independent artists after a successful 5 album record deal in Nashville expired at the start of 2025. Stepping out fully on his own... exactly how his story began years ago.

Grow has amassed more than a quarter-of-a-billion (250+ Million) streams across all Digital Service Platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc) on his music catalog. He was named to Billboard’s coveted “7 Country Acts To Watch” list. His 2020 hit single, “Song About You,” from his EP, Me And Mine, was listed as one of Spotify’s "Best Country Songs of 2020-Wrapped," and his 2019 album, “Love and Whiskey,” debuted at #1 on iTunes Country albums chart. Grow also made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Saturday November 27th, 2021 and has since returned to play that stage again.

Grow began his journey in Mechanicsville, Maryland, where his father J.R. worked on power lines by day and enjoyed singing and listening to music at home at night. Sam started showing signs of talent early — so early that at age 5, after his family had moved to Winfield, Kansas, he made his debut singing “Amazing Grace” at the local Baptist church. Winfield also hosts the annual Walnut Valley Festival, which featured many of the best bluegrass singers and players. This, too, opened Grow’s eyes and ears.

At age 10 he began writing songs. By the time his parents divorced, Grow understood that music can be something more than a hobby or distraction. “I saw a lot of things that kids of 12 or 13 shouldn’t have to see,” he recalls. “I felt that I had something to say about those moments. That’s why I started writing about them. Eventually music became my escape, a way to get away from whatever was bad.”

When he was 15 Sam went with his father to Nashville. J.R. was there on business but he found time to sneak his son into Robert’s Western Wear, the classic Music City honky-tonk. Just one year later Sam was playing shows and leading his own band. Eventually he enrolled at the College of Southern Maryland as a music major, but left after a while and got back to making music. He knew then and knows today that he really had no other choice, and this was entirely because of that second milestone.

When he held his infant daughter for the first time, he says, “I realized that I was her first example of what a man is. I didn’t want to be the kind of man who said, ‘I had a dream to play music but then I had you and set it aside.’ That’s the worst thing you can tell a child. Looking at her, I wanted her to grow up knowing that I did chase my dreams. I wanted her to believe, like me, that the world is limitless.”

So Grow devoted full time to playing, performing and writing. He cut an indie album, Ignition, in 2009 and began touring beyond the Maryland territory, with shows booked in Los Angeles, San Diego, Vancouver and other far-flung destinations. When he landed a gig at Nashville Underground, he impulsively blind-texted producer Matt McClure, though they’d never met, inviting him to come down and catch a set or two. Impressed, McClure started introducing Grow to major publishers. Deals were offered immediately. Grow moved to Nashville in 2013 and started releasing his own music, beginning with a self-titled EP in 2014 and followed by The Blame in 2017 and A Little Like Me in 2018. Since then, Grow has released 5 full-length studio albums on Average Joes Nashville. Now, he is poised to release his 6th full length album since 2019 and this time he will be fully independent.

Grow's 6th studio album 'Black Hills' is set to be released in November of 2025.