Sam Riggs and the Night People will perform Saturday at The Silo as part of their Texas tour.
Riggs and his band have been touring since the release of their record Outrun the Sun, their first full album. Door will open at 7 p.m. and the band is set to play at 8 p.m.
With a song that was featured on the show Nashville, music videos that break the top 10 on CMT, a session recorded with Daytrotter and mentoring from Ray Wylie Hubbard, the show and the chance to hear Outrun the Sun is a must-do for Saturday night.
“Sam Riggs wears a legacy of honest country, makes good rock, writes lyrics that matter and straps on a stage presence second to none,” Hubbard said.
This is a fact the country artist does not take lightly. The appreciation from his fans for the work done on his first single, Lighthouse EP, and on Outrun the Sun goes a long way for this singer-songwriter.
“The first moment when I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’ was when we were playing a show in Lubbock and the crowd started singing Six Feet in the Ground back to us,” Riggs said. “There’s been a few times people come to me and tell me about a song has that changed their life or influenced them or got them through a hard time, especially When the Lights Go Out and Last Prayer. They say it not really realizing what an impact it has on me as a writer, but it feels neat to no end. It makes me want to write more; it’s so gratifying.”
A true country artist, Riggs has been playing guitar and drums since he was in high school and writing songs since his sophomore year in high school.
“When I was a little kid, my mom had this old Gibson guitar that she passed down to me,” Riggs said. “She used to play for my brother and I, so I picked that thing up and I played it.”
Riggs’s background and love of music are what took the singer-songwriter from his high school hobby to touring and producing music videos and sought-after songs. It’s also what makes his story true to country music.
“I was a welder and working my butt off, and I decided I wanted something bigger in life, so I picked up my guitar and went to Texas,” Riggs said. “I wanted to taste the dream of being a musician and a singer/songwriter. I figured if I’m going to die some day, I don’t want to look back on my life like I wasted it.”
His journey has not worked perfectly to achieve the dream of fame, though.
“There hasn’t been a lot, but there’s been a couple moments when I look back and I think how things would’ve been different if I hadn’t done this,” Riggs said. “But I don’t think there’s ever been a moment where I wished I hadn’t. I lost touch with a lot of friends, lost touch with a lot of family. When you’re blowing and going and writing music all the time, you change and grow so much when you move away from home, much less being in a band. You’re not the same person and you can’t go home again.”
Sacrifice is not a subject Riggs is unfamiliar with. Lighthouse was a path and a decision not taken or made lightly.
“Lighthouse was made around a whole lot of turmoil in my life. That’s where the premise for Lighthouse came from; everybody needs a lighthouse to pull them through the fog,” Riggs said. “That record was after me. I gambled everything on it. I sold my truck, I sold my welder to finish it and I put out my first radio single.”
Now that Outrun the Sun has been out for a little more than a year, Riggs is planning for the future.
“You’re always trying to see over the horizon to see what’s coming up next,”he said. “We’re going to Steamboat (Colorado) in January doing a big tour up there and back. In the meantime, I’m writing my tail off, writing as many songs as I can, because in April, we’re going into the studio to make another record.”
As for Abilene, Sam Riggs and the Night People will be perform Saturday to share their talent and drive.
“Everybody wants to get done and have a night off and experience something surreal or just get out and cut loose and have a good time,” Riggs said. “We’re looking forward to having a show (in Abilene). We have the saying, if it’s five or five thousand, it’s the same show.”
