Oklahoma Native and member of the Choctaw Nation, thirty-eight-year-old Samantha Crain is a hidden powerhouse in the music industry. Unlike many artists featured in The Forgotten and the Unknown, Crain taught herself how to play the guitar and write music in high school. Most of her songs were based on short stories she wrote during the summer of her senior year. Before Crain found her spark for music, she was a powerlifter as a child and teenager, a true multi-talented queen. She began touring at the tender age of nineteen. Crain toured solo or as a duo with another artist named Beth Bombara, a Grand Rapids native. Crain also formed Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers with Jacob Edwards and Andrew Tanz; they played together until 2009.
During her solo career, Crain has released six albums, one EP, and one record, “Songs in the Night,” with Midnight Shivers. Crain has been recognized for her musical talent by Indigenous communities, winning three Native American Music Awards (NAMMYs). Her music has been featured in award-winning Indigenous shows such as Reservation Dogs and Echo. Crain has also dabbled in score composing, and in 2023, she composed the score for Lily Gladstone’s “Fancy Dance.”
A Small Death ( 2020 ):
“A Small Death” was written and recorded in 2020 following three car crashes that happened in a three-month period in mid-2017 leaving Crain unable to use her hands and with physical and mental trauma. After 12 months, she went into recovery, using voice memos to write songs while unable to use her hands. Crain transformed the memos into “A Small Death,” a hauntingly beautiful album. Every single track on this record is unique. Crain is known for her beautiful instrumentals and lyrical arrangements. She has a voice that can take listeners through the five stages of grief as the record plays. Combining elements of her Native culture with the Indie Americana music style makes Crain a rare artist.
Pastime:
“Pastime” is the second track on “A Small Death” and a record highlight. The upbeat hipster guitar chord, combined with Crain’s beautiful voice, creates an anthem of nostalgia and youth. Lyrically, “Pastime” is gorgeous. The opening verse, “Falling in love was a pastime / I practice every chance I got,” paints a picture of Crain’s views on romance and love, a topic relatable for many people. The song remains one of the more upbeat and less sentimental songs on the album, almost acting as a trick of what the listener would expect from the record. Crain does this so well, with her ability to blend more upbeat and powerful tracks with the somber ballads following. The transition feels smooth and clean, not as jarring as one would expect, especially since “Pastime” transitions into “Holding to the Edge of Night,” a slow acoustic guitar track that feels like an echo. “Pastime” builds into the album before dropping into soul-crushing, crying into ice cream at five a.m. territory.
Joey:
Used in the popular and award-winning TV show “Reservation Dogs,” “Joey” is one of the hardest-hitting and saddest songs of the album. Placed smack dab in the middle of the record, it’s a song that’s impossible to skip. The song begins with a string instrumental before Crain’s vocals come in, which sets the tone for the four-minute emotional roller coaster that is “Joey.” Crain’s lyrics are reminiscent of a great poet. The lines “So what is time but a thief among men? Just a robber who moves on out of view,” creates an emotional spiral of the ideas of time, death, and life. The song is about Crain and her friend of over 13 years, Joey, who became one of her biggest supporters in life. The song brings those heavy feelings of childhood and togetherness.
When We Remain:
“When We Remain” is a special track on the record, recorded completely in the Choctaw language based on an old proverb. The translated lyrics paint a vivid and beautiful picture. “When we remain, we will not be like the beautiful bones of a forgotten city / When we remain, we will be the flowers and the trees and the vines that overcome the forgotten city / We have woven ourselves into the cloth of the earth / We have mixed our breath into the expanding sky.” The embrace of Crain’s culture in the track is so beautiful and emotional. The song is also used as a way to bring awareness to the lack of clean drinking water in many Indigenous communities.
Samantha Crain’s talent and ability to make music and her lyrics like poems will carry her far in the music industry. She is currently touring around the U.S., coming to Lake Orion, Michigan at 20 Front Street, on July 26, 2025.
