Martin H Samuel
Hi, I’m Martin H Samuel, a songwriter and a drummer. In December 2013, I formed The New Revolution onstage at an open mic jam in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was an all-male band; and I soon had the band well-booked, working 4 nights a week playing covers (sometimes with free beer included).
In February 2014, I began co-writing the song Boogie On the Bayou, tailor-made for the band. Come mid-March, without even hearing the song, I was fired from my own band via text (not a real man among them) for being so bold as to suggest we add an original song to the band’s 300+ piece repertoire.
I co-crafted the song as toe-tapper and guaranteed dance floor filler with a catchy sing-along chorus. I finally finished the lyrics in New Orleans, Louisiana and the music with Lisa Nemzo, who lived in Marina del Rey, California.
Bad Ass Boots, an Americana country-rockabilly boogie band of 4 gals and 1 guy from the San Francisco Bay Area heard Boogie On The Bayou. They liked it, rehearsed it, performed it, and recorded and released the song as a digital single with Billie Burnor on lead vocals; Suzanne ‘Shazam’ Cimone on harp and vocals; Joyce Baker on drums; Billie Duffey on bass; Pat Duffey on electric and slide guitar and vocals; and Lisa Nemzo on acoustic guitar and vocals.
I wrote the lyrics, a tale of boy meets girl, from the male perspective. Billie, the Bad Ass Boots vocalist, sang it exactly as written… yes, that’s a female lead vocalist and no one has caught on yet!
Max Perry
As you know, writing, rehearsing, recording and releasing a song is not all there is to it. Promotion is of prime importance, and I am a one-man-band in that department.
As a result, Max Perry, world-renowned choreographer and the Godfather of line dance as we now know it, created the line dance Bayou Bay Boogie in Ocala, Florida, especially for the song. Bob and Marlene Peyre-Ferry followed it up with a partner dance. Now, the song promotes the dances and vice versa.
In addition to streaming online, the song has received radio airplay in 20 countries to date. The dance is being enjoyed worldwide, not only in the U.S., U.K. and Europe, but as far afield as Japan and Singapore.
Michael Pang, President of The Singapore Country Line Dance Association, wrote to me, “We are already dancing Bayou Bay Boogie to the song and loving it! We will promote both song and dance on our tour of Malaysia.”
DJ Jack Snyder in New Orleans interviewed me and is also playing Boogie On The Bayou every day throughout November 2014 on Expats Radio.
I am hoping the song will be picked up by CBS for the soundtrack of the TV show NCIS: New Orleans. Perhaps my old band, The New Revolution, will now agree to play the song, as it’s just another cover!
Bad Ass Boots with Lisa Nemzo
Along the way, I learned some things may not be done in south Florida, but it can be done from south Florida. The single may now be heard, the dance step sheets downloaded and Winnie Ho’s dance class viewed at: http://boogieonthebayou.n.nu
A word to the wise: Know whom you are working with (musicians / co-writers). It may be a deterrent if everything you agreed to is put in writing beforehand. For example, my co-writer of 30 years signed up our song for distribution by CD Baby (in Portland, Oregon) and their 28 partners, using only her e-mail and bank account. Even though I am the listed co-copyright holder and CD Baby should abide by U.S. © Law and send me song statements of account and 50% of sales, less commission, CD Baby has refused to do so.
Martin H Samuel
Drummer and co-author of Boogie On the Bayou
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