Canvasback Records/Atlantic Records is proud to announce the release of “I Am Samantha” from singer-songwriter Benjamin Scheuer. The touching track recounts the real-life journey of Samantha Williams – a transgender woman who Scheuer first met and befriended at a coffeeshop in New York City.
As Scheuer learned about Samantha’s story – and she in turn learned about his career as a singer/songwriter – she reflected on the fact she’d never heard a song about someone named Samantha. He promised her to change that, filling notebooks with details of her life and her journey to transition, and ultimately writing what is now “I Am Samantha.” Included below is a note from Samantha which beautifully illustrates the origins of the song from her perspective.
“I Am Samantha” is the story of one trans woman. It is also the story of what it means to love and be loved. With uncommon empathy, Scheuer unpacks not just Samantha’s journey, but the human journey we all take to find identity, acceptance, and love.
Today’s release comes accompanied by a powerful music video directed by T Cooper [director of the award-winning documentary Man Made] and starring a cast of 27 trans actors (believed to be the largest trans cast assembled to date). The visual was also helmed by an all-female, LGBTQ, and/or person of color crew. Notable cast members include Monica Helms (creator of the Transgender Pride Flag) and Skyler Jay (Season 2 of Queer Eye).
The official video comes joined by a touching behind-the-scenes “making of”documentary directed by Allison Glock-Cooper, herself an acclaimed author + director.
WATCH “I AM SAMANTHA” + BEHIND THE SCENES DOC: HERE
The song is being released today, March 31st on International Transgender Day of Visibility in partnership with a host of incredible organizations including the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), GLAAD, Trans Lifeline and The Ally Coalition.
Of their partnership on the project, TLDEF Program Manager AC Dumlao shares: “‘I Am Samantha’ is more than a song and a music video, it is a message that trans communities are resilient and multifaceted, and our stories are meant to be seen and heard. At TLDEF’s Name Change Project, where we connect low-income trans folks with legal representation in the name change process, we work with hundreds of trans folks every year, who like Samantha, are looking to live in their truth with their chosen name. TLDEF is excited to collaborate with Canvasback Music for the release of ‘I Am Samantha.’”
Benjamin Scheuer’s journey to this debut is not your standard singer/songwriter story. Well known throughout the theatre world on both sides of the Atlantic for his one-man show THE LION (2014), (which delivered a clutch of awards including a Drama Desk Award for “Outstanding Solo Performance,” an off-West End Award for “Best New Musical,” and an ASCAP “Cole Porter Award for Songwriting”), Scheuer is also a published children’s author (with his wife Jemima Williams) for Simon & Schuster, having written Hibernate With Me and Hundred Feet Tall; and the author of Between Two Spaces, which documented his diagnosis with – and successful treatment for – stage IV Hodgkins Lymphoma.