Samson vying for volunteer award

Queens Co. resident Pam Samson is up for “Volunteer of the Year” at the Nova Scotia Music Awards coming up in Nov., but she says the experience is “a bit weird.” “I’m not used to anyone paying attention to what I do. People want to have copies of the pictures, and I always give them to the places we volunteer at.”

Samson sees herself as just one of the many that volunteer, and not one to stand out. “Volunteers are one of those things that if they weren’t there, everybody would miss them, but if they are there nobody notices them.”

Her volunteerism comes out of her passion of photography. Both her and her husband are both avid photographers, and attend various festivals and award shows as volunteer photographers.

What got her on the path to being a volunteer photographer was Stanfest that she and her husband, along with their children, attend every year. Both were always taking photos at the festivals, and they would give copies of the prints to the organizers of the festival. As digital became prevalent in the past few years, it became much easier to give pictures out quickly and in larger numbers. “The one thing about digital is you can take as many pictures as you want, and eventually you’re going to get a good shot.”

Samson says she has a good eye for a setup, but the real key is patience. “I can sit there with the camera for a long time waiting for the picture I want.”

One thing she makes clear though is the photography is a team effort, shared with her husband Allen. Both are photographers, and look for different things when taking photos, which works well submitting them.

Along with festivals, Samsons photos have appeared on the CD jackets of, Matt Anderson, JP Cormier, as well as countless websites.

A few years ago, she got involved with the volunteer photography at the ECMAs. The former organizer of Stanfest, Troy Greencorn, is the events manager for the ECMAs and asked her to manage the volunteer photography team. She accepted the position and has done it for the past five years.

The reward for her volunteering, she says, is being able to attend the festivals. To Samson, attending them is like a vacation.

Back in Queens Co., Samson and her husband also host “house concerts”, inviting musicians travelling on the road to stop by for a show.

Samson first heard of these types of concerts while at a festival a few years ago. The concerts were proving popular out west, and they decided to give it a try.

The first one was two years ago with Rose Cousins, and Samson says it was astounding success. Now she holds one roughly every two month, with hiatus in summer while she attends festivals.

The house concerts are informal affairs, says Samson, and are very spontaneous and organic things. She adds you never know quite what to expect at one.

A recent concert had Coco Aove Alcorn perform, and she brought a musician named JD Edwards from out west. After a break in the set, the pair asked if anyone was interested in joining them on stage. A friend’s son and drummer for David Miles offered to play the cajon, which added a whole new dimension to the show. “It just took the whole things up three levels,” she says. “You never know how it’s going to evolve.”

The shows aren’t done for profit either, and the door charge goes to the artist.

Finding artists is simpler than one would think too. At the festivals, Samson makes connections with artists she likes, and invites them to play when they travel through the South Shore. The house concerts aren’t there to compete with the Astor Theatre though. “The Astor Theatre brings in the bigger acts, but there are a lot of acts who travel through Nova Scotia who wouldn’t be able to perform at the Astor, until there more well known.”

Promotions for the concert are kept small, with her email list of about 250 people. Samson adds however she is always willing to add more. The next one is coming up in Nov., with Irish Mythen and Andrew Hunter

Samson says she’ll be down for part of the gala, definitely the awards show, and has volunteered to do photography while she’s down. She’s modest about her chances of winning, but still happy to be nominated. “I think it’s a great honour, and I’m thoroughly pleased, but it still weird.”

Nova Scotia Music Week takes place in Yarmouth from Nov. 5-8.

nmoase@theadvance.ca