This month we are looking into life as a social media blogger and manager with Sammie White from Three Chords.
Sammie is originally from Manchester but now lives just outside Birmingham with her husband. Sammie founded Three Chords during the pandemic in 2020, furloughed from her job and very bored she decided to start writing blogs as well as create playlists. Five minutes later she had bought the domain and hosting and was on her way. She says it's the most impulsive thing she has ever done in her life but it has certainly worked out for the best. She writes reviews, interviews and creates weekly playlists on Spotify for listeners to discover new music. Since beginning this journey, she has created nearly 70 weekly playlists and has written over 170 reviews (at the time of the interview). Although she never intended on doing reviews, they "just sort of happened", and it is the main piece of work she does now. Sammie describes that reviews can be relatively tricky - you need and want to be honest in order for your readers to trust your outlook however, you have to respect the artists work and the time/effort that has gone into each piece.
Through the blog she has met some incredible artists, discovered some amazing new music and met the most amazing bunch of people who are friends for life. As well as running her own blog and review site she also helps Laura Jenkins with music PR, digital marketing and social media on a freelance basis.
As lockdown begins to ease, Sammie now works full-time in her non-music related job and has managed to negotiate some great hours (7:30am - 3:30pm) so that she is able to have the evenings and weekends free to work on the blog. During the evenings she tries to work on interviews and reviews, but will plan her week in advance on the weekends. During the weekends she will respond to all emails and make a scheduled plan for the week ahead. Social media can be done on the phone at any time but you will usually find an updated status from Three chords early in the morning while Sammie is waiting for someone to open the door at the office!
When it comes to working with specific people Sammie is not picky, it doesn’t matter where they live, what gender they are or what style/sub-genre they play - they do need to be within the Country, Folk, Country-Rock or Americana genres though. She has worked, and is happy to work, with people all over the world but finds she works with more people from the UK. This is due to location, ease of access and visibility. She also credits the first few artists she interviewed/reviewed as the reason her name got out a little quicker.
When asked what an artist should expect from her, Sammie replied “Honest with some constructive criticism if necessary”. She always tries to be nice about something within the piece, even if it's not to her taste as there is no need to tear someone down. While researching other reviews within magazines (Rolling Stone etc) she found they were gratuitously harsh just because they could be.
You can expect her to be slow replying to emails but you will get a response….. eventually!! She will also still love the song and show it love for months/years to come. While writing a review she plays the song on repeat to get the most out of the song and pick up bits she may have missed in the beginning. Sammie will also add her favourites to her weekly playlists and continue to play them over and over. Don’t be surprised if she gives you a shoutout in a few months time with one of your older songs. She just loves it that much!
Advice for anyone wanting to start writing blogs or reviews??
“JUST DO IT”. As mentioned earlier, Sammie never planned on writing reviews but she just started writing what she heard. If you want to write a review just start by picking a song... it can be a new one, an old one or a classic, it really doesn’t matter. You don’t need to publish it or have to tell anyone about it. Listen to the song and write how it makes you feel or what it makes you think of. Some songs make Sammie think about driving fast, driving aimlessly, make her think of a season or a rainy day. However it makes you feel, it’s guaranteed someone else will feel/think the same way and it will resonate with them.
When it comes to writing a blog, just write it…. What’s the worst that can happen?
Follow Sammie and Three Chords on all Social Media Platforms:
Twitter: @threechordsblog
Facebook: @ThreeChords
Instagram: @threechords
Website: www.threechordscountry.net
Comments