MAMA SAM

Raised on campfire sing-a-longs in Wisconsin, Mama Sam (aka Sam Montanaro) is a heart-scrubbin’, soul-shakin’ prolific songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Raw, magnetic, and just a little dangerous, her raspy voice cuts straight to the bone.

In Chicago’s 2000s underground scene, she left scorch marks with bands like Calibrated Crematorium, Willy Dynomite, Cartolinas, and The Flower Beds.

Portland became her next cosmic musical landing. She moved in 2014 and, by 2018, was captaining a psychedelic folk-pop starship called Mama Sam & The Jam. Her songs braid heartbreak and cosmic curiosity with a jolt of emotional electricity that can hush a room mid-sip.

Beyond her The Jam, Mama Sam has lent her unmistakable pipes and lush vocal arrangements to a bunch of Portland acts, including New Constellations, Ashleigh Flynn and the Riveters, ZWONGR, Mitch and the Melody Makers, and more. She performs often around Portland in many different forms: Mama Sam & Friends, Mama Sam solo and as duos and trios.

Mama Sam & The Jam sound like Mazzy Star took a field trip with Fleetwood Mac and forgot to come back—drenched in harmony, a little interstellar, and gloriously groove-soaked. It’s vibey, goosebump-raising, frequency-lifting magic.