PERFORMING ARTIST
Sammie ‘Sammi Starr’ Poitier
F
By Caprice Spencer-Dames | Photographs courtesy of Terrance Colebrooke of TCFILMZ or this April-June 2022 issue of Up and Away, Caprice Spencer-Dames caught up with Sammie ‘Sammi Starr’ Poitier for an in-depth conversation about balancing family life, entertaining, recording and socializing. Sit back, relax and enjoy her one-on-one conversation with him.
Let’s start from the beginning and tell us a little bit about you. Where were you born and raised? I was born in Nassau, Bahamas but raised since the age of five on the island of Andros, North Andros to be exact. Most of my family is from the island of Andros. I attended primary school and high school there. When did you begin singing, learning music and performing? I began my music journey at about age four. My dad is a musician, songwriter, recording artist and performer, so there was always music and instruments around. He would let us play around with all of them and I found that I was pretty good at drums and, later, piano. I began singing after listening to my older sister Shema and my mother sing all the time. As an entertainer, you are dynamic on stage, but you seem somewhat quiet and reserved off stage. Do you transform into an alter ego on stage? I most definitely do transform completely! I love the suspense around my persona. It’s a natural thing for me, though. The stage gives me life and energy. When I’m off stage, I prefer to be in an almost Zen mode, calm and free-spirited, to preserve my mental health and prepare myself for the explosion of energy on stage.
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You have incorporated a number of musical styles, from rake-n-scrape to R&B and a few in between. What musical style hits to the core of Sammie? For me, it’s hard to identify a single musical style because I love them all! I am, however, focused on creating a formula for Bahamian-styled music, rake-n-scrape and Junkanoo, to finally break into that world market and stay there. I’m a singer, so I love beautiful voices and harmony, so R&B is very appealing to me but I can’t get enough of the rake-n-scrape and storytelling vibes of our music.
