Sam Cockrell And The Groove

Bass player and band leader Sam Cockrell has been playing music almost his entire life. He said he first played at a club called the Burning Spear when he was 9 years old. 31 years later this dynamic bass player and gifted singer has just finished recording his first CD and made his debut performance in Minneapolis.
Born in 1959, Cockrell grew up listening to the music of his time and cites diverse influences like Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Yes, The Doobie Brothers and the Motown sound. As a child he saw the Jackson 5 and decided he wanted to play the bass, which has been his instrument ever since.

Sam's band, The Groove, consists of guitar player Chris Forte, Saxophone player Howard Shaw and long time friend and drummer Rob Davis. These guys are full of energy and fun to watch. They play music that is geared to getting the crowd up and dancing. They cover a variety of genres and are just as comfortable playing R&B, pop, motown, rock and dance music as they are straight ahead blues - and they can do them all with style and aplomb. Variety is the bands specialty, and they play what the audience wants to hear. Sam's trained voice also lends itself easily to just about any style of music, not being limited to just the blues. He has a clear, strong, confident voice, and when you combine that with his exciting bass playing and crowd pleasing good nature you get one great performer.

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