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Sam Outlaw Takes On California Country

05/22/2015
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(Radio.com) Sam Outlaw is well aware that his stage name will raise some eyebrows. "I know people were thinking, 'What the hell is this? Is this guy for real?'" Outlaw tells Radio.com by phone from his home in Los Angeles. But Outlaw is actually his mother's maiden name--for real--and he credits her with giving him "the artistry part of my brain."

"My mom always encouraged me," he says. "She unfortunately passed away a couple years ago." Outlaw says he didn't know she was about to die. "It was unexpected. She called me up before I was about to leave on tour," he explains. "She said she was proud of me and she thought it was cool I was using the Outlaw name, and she liked my music. A few days later my brother called me up and said she died."

While it is a tribute to his mother, Outlaw knows it would have been just plain stupid not use the name as a country singer who happens to be on the fringe. "It gives me a chance to talk about my mom and honor her and remember her," he says, before noting, "The name is more now than just a catchy thing."

The name certainly works in tandem with his Ry Cooder-produced debut album Angeleno, out June 9, which blends influences that come straight from being a country singer living in California.

Outlaw describes his mix of honky tonk and mariachi as being "Southern California country music" and says it could only come from living in one place.

"Something distinctive about L.A., which you don't get in other places of the country, is the influence of Mexican culture and Mexican music," he says "I've tried to incorporate that as well. You'll hear a couple tunes with mariachis. Ry Cooder channeled that as well, he understands that Mexican style." Read more here.

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Copyright Radio.com/CBS Local - Excerpted here with permission.

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