Songs & Stories: Samantha Ava's dark country road to Niagara

Hamilton Spectator

20-06-2025

It wasn't enough for the universe to send Samantha Ava a sign her life had to change. Not even two signs.
By the third time, the Fisherville (Haldimand County) singer figured she better listen to these wake-up calls.
During her teen years, she dove into drugs and alcohol to deal with a 'severely traumatic experience.' With her life veering out of control, she flipped her Jeep into a field one night after a party. She walked away with barely a scratch.
Later that night, getting checked at the hospital, doctors found a layer of fluid around her heart, built up from her drug abuse.
The final sign? Losing one of her best friends to drug addiction. It was the devastating final chapter to what she calls five years of being 'off the wall.'
'It was just because I didn't deal with trauma the way I should have. I didn't get help, I just went and did that.'
During her dark period, the infatuation with music she had when she was young disappeared. As she recovered, that love came back. And it came with a hard-earned bonus — life experience to write about.
'It was also personal growth I had to go through to become a better writer, artist,' she says. 'I have two little girls. It's not like I'm just living on my parents' couch, dreaming of being a rock star. I've got a whole life around me besides the music.
'I've experienced a lot. Been through a divorce. My girls are seven and nine. I've experienced a lot and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm way more grateful of everything that happens now.'
Ava filters it all through a gothic country sound. Alluring singles like
'Dead Town Diva,'
'I am the Night'
and the new
'Secret'
— released Thursday — sound like an edgier Miranda Lambert, mixing pain with plenty of defiance.
She shares the songs and the tales behind them for 'Songs & Stories' at Taps Brewhouse in Niagara Falls June 26. She'll be joined by Niagara artists Evan Rotella, Gravely James and Amanda Lyn Parker.
For Ava (real name: Samantha Walker), music is something she has to wedge into her days as a mom and a music teacher . She can't devote her life 24-7 to it, but she's fine with it — this is how the plan is supposed to unfold, she figures.
'I don't have a clue how I'm doing it, but I'm doing it.
'I never took my music seriously until I became a mom,' she says. 'I was writing really hard before my daughter, but after my first daughter was born, that's when I kicked it into high gear.
'I wanted to be the best role model I could be for my kids. And I didn't want past trauma to hold me back anymore.'
It can result in personal, emotionally stacked songs. Recorded in Nashville, 'Secret' — dwelling on guilt and infidelity — surprised the band she had gathered.
'I walked in the room and I was like, 'This is what we're going to write about today,' and the guys just looked at me and were like, 'OK?' Because it wasn't about beer or whisky or my boots,' she says.
'I came in like lightning on that song and we all just rolled with it.'
'Songs & Stories' is at Taps Brewhouse (4680 Queen St., Niagara Falls) June 26 starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 advance, $15 at the door (
danima.com/tickets
).