British-Nigerian soul singer Samm Henshaw kicked off his United States tour earlier this month at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco.
Henshaw, a native of London, has blossomed in popularity following the release of his debut album Untidy Soul earlier this year.
Featuring hit songs Chicken Wingz, Still Broke, and Take Time and an appearance from the award-winning, Houston-born lyricist Tobe Nwigwe, Untidy Soul has quickly made Henshaw a household name globally.
As part of his United States tour, named after the acclaimed album, Henshaw will tour eight United States cities in just two weeks, including an unforgettable night at the House of Blues of Dallas.
The mesmerizing performance of Henshaw was unforgettable to me for two reasons. Not only was it one of the smoothest performances I'd ever witnessed, but I was able to view it from the VIP access area since my cousin Robert Reavling is Henshaw's drummer for the Untidy Soul tour(!).
"I'm just blessed and humbled to be on tour with Samm," Reavling told me in the House of Blues green room before the show. "This is only our fourth tour show so we are still getting warmed up but I'm excited for tonight. This is my first time in Dallas."
In between him steaming his clothes and munching on a messy pair of barbeque chicken wings, Henshaw also shared a few words with me before the show.
"I'm very excited to have Rob locked in with us," Henshaw said to me backstage. "I feel like, since we are all church boys and grew up around worship, it helps us bring out the type of performances we want. I feel like we feed off each other well."
In saying that the band had a unique chemistry, Henshaw was absolutely spot on. The crew was sensational from the first song to the last as Henshaw ignited a packed House of Blues crowd.
Henshaw performed virtually his full array of hits and delivered arguably the most soulful performance at the House of Blues this year.
After the show, I joined Samm Henshaw and the crew backstage, where they recapped a memorable night in Dallas.
"The energy in Dallas was insane," Henshaw said. "We've had bigger crowds on this tour, but Dallas was definitely the loudest. If we can get that same energy from a bigger crowd..look out."
Jordan "JB" Bikila, the pianist and longtime friend of Samm Henshaw, was also captivated by the Dallas crowd.
"Dallas was mad tonight," JB said. "Everyone was so lit. I loved to see it."
With a concert in Houston scheduled just a day after the show in Dallas, I asked Henshaw if he planned to bring out Houston-born music star Tobe Nwigwe for a live performance of their famous track Take Time.
"Actually, yeah, it's funny you ask," Henshaw said through a smile. "He [Tobe] likes to come out for stuff like that, so he'll be there yeah."
Henshaw will wrap up the Untidy Soul tour on June 16th with a sold-out show in Washington D.C at the Songbyrd Music House and Record Cafe.
His next United States appearance will be in September when he returns for the Day N Vegas festival.
Comments / 1