Born in 1959, Cockrell grew up listening to the music of his time and cites diverse influences like Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Yes, The Doobie Brothers and the Motown sound. As a child he saw the Jackson 5 and decided he wanted to play the bass, which has been his instrument ever since. Sam's band, The Groove, consists of guitar player Chris Forte, Saxophone player Howard Shaw and long time friend and drummer Rob Davis. These guys are full of energy and fun to watch. They play music that is geared to getting the crowd up and dancing.
Variety is the bands specialty, and they play what the audience wants to hear.
Sam's trained voice also lends itself easily to just about any style of music, not being limited to just the blues. He has a clear, strong, confident voice, and when you combine that with his exciting bass playing and crowd pleasing good nature you get one great performer. All rights reserved Sam is often out in the audience getting things moving and several times he was even joined by saxophone player Howard Shaw. During the second set they even wound up together playing inside the bar on the other side of the room. All rights reserved.