Boasting a soulful and delicate sound, Samantha Smith came to the attention of the music business as a teenager in the late 1990s when she was playing a charity fundraiser for Martin House Children's Hospice.
At an age when most youngsters were thinking about GCSEs, Samantha, then 15, now 24, was being offered a development deal to work with successful boy band Damage, the UK-based, R&B quintet who enjoyed four top ten hits singles.
She explains: "I was playing a support slot for a charity gig for Martin House Children's Hospice and Damage were headlining it. They missed my set, so I plucked up the courage to go up to them and sing them one of my songs. I was really nervous but, luckily, they liked me. Before I knew it, they'd offered me a week's trial in London to write and record my own material with them.
"We wrote and recorded three songs in that week and when it was over they offered me a two-year development deal. All this while still at school. It was an exciting time."
This unexpected break gave Samantha the opportunity to work with various well-known producers and songwriters including Steve Octave, who played Keys for Blue, and James Hayton, who played guitar for Kylie Minogue.
As well as getting the chance to tour the UK with them, her association with Damage led to numerous offers after the boy band split up in 2002 which finally resulted in her signing with Nick Raymond from Sony Records.
This was where the fairytale story hit reality. Like many other talented youngsters in a similar position, nothing quite clicked after that. Finding your own niche in the music business, especially one that will lead to actual major record sales, is by no means a foregone conclusion.
After spending much of the decade between pillar and post, Samantha recently relocated back to Harrogate where has experimented with different sounds in the studio.
Although recording different styles; from R'n'B to rock, she says she's now settled on her strongest suit – acoustic music – and it's this which is to the fore on the EP which has just been released.
Recorded with two other local artists Bob Fleming and Tom Flanagan, it features four tracks, three of them written by Samantha.
She recently performed her songs at a live night at Lure Bar in Harrogate and next intends to turn her attention to a full album.
Samantha Smith's EP is on sale at £3 from her website:
www.samantha-smith.co.ukgraham.chalmers@ypn.co.uk
