Sam Golden Helps St. Louis Musicians Shine

“People who want a session musician, an engineer, and a producer, kind of get it all with me” – Sam Golden

Whether behind the scenes or center stage, Sam Golden is making his mark on the St. Louis music scene. 

With gig options drying up during the pandemic, Sam Golden had the perfect opportunity to lean into his composition roots and build his recording studio. Located in south St. Louis, Holiday Heart Studio allows musicians to collaborate with Golden in various ways—transcription, arranging, recording, and mixing. Golden provides a wide range of support to local musicians seeking to create unique, ear-catching recordings.

“I like studio work because I know the sound I’m going for, and I can really take the time to dial it in, getting every lick in its right place,” said Golden. 

As a composition major, Golden always enjoyed tinkering with arrangements and recording. He has written, arranged, and recorded music for diverse projects, including movies, plays, podcasts, symphony orchestras, big bands, rock bands, and singer-songwriters. Golden uses his talents as a multi-instrumentalist to benefit local musicians at his Holiday Heart Studio. 

“I’m just trying to stay busy and work with as many people as I can… I’ll do a lot of stuff with singer-songwriters who don’t have like a regular band… like someone who is coming in with an acoustic guitar or something, and they want a fuller thing, and I can play guitar, bass, violin, viola, upright bass, keyboards, accordion – they can come in, and we can really flesh it out,” said Golden.

“Someone will come in with their acoustic and singing and be like; I want the string arrangement for this … so, I do that all the time…I can make it huge – quadruple every violin pat and make a whole string orchestra with just myself. So, I started that (studio), and I got the bug… and just kept upgrading and expanding over the pandemic.” Golden continued. “And now I’m continuing – I’m pretty much a studio guy for the most part.”

But Sam Golden is not exclusively a studio guy. While much of his professional life is spent in the studio, you can often catch him as a sideman for Beth Bombara or supporting other local musicians on guitar and fiddle . You can see Golden performing as frontman for Fiddlin’ Sam and the Golden Bolo Band, his Western Swing supergroup. The band performs a couple of times a year. 

Golden’s goal for Golden Bolo Band? “I want to have a good time and have other people have a good time, so that’s what that’s about. To have a good time with good players and make people happy and sing funny songs that are fun,” he said.

Of course, there’s serious work behind the playfulness of Fiddlin’ Sam and the Golden Bolo Band. Behind the scenes, Golden is busy arranging harmonies for fiddles and transcribing old recordings from the 30s and 40s with their catchy and fun melodies, ensuring the shows are a good time. And you might even be able to pick up a unique bolo tie made by Fiddlin’ Sam himself.

Fellow bandmate Ryan Koenig reflects on his time in the Bolo Band, “Sam has always been a pleasure to work with and watch, live and in the studio. The Bolo Band has been a great excuse to play the tunes that made me love Western Swing, and watching Rats and People’s rendition of Nosferatu has become a yearly tradition. His studio setup is always improving, with everything from fancy microphones to thrifted stuffed animals. Sam is a solid addition to the STL music scene.”

You also may have heard Golden’s work on silent film scores. If you’ve seen Nosferatu at Urban Chestnut around Halloween, you’ve listened to Sam as a part of the The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra. RPMPO’s mission aligns well with his other musical efforts as their website states, “… that silent film is a wonderful medium unto itself—one that only comes fully alive on the big screen, in the presence of others, and with live musical accompaniment carefully composed to support the filmmaker’s vision.”

Back in the studio, where he is frequently in the midst of several projects, Golden is working with Nick Gusman on an acoustic album, a new tune from Louisa Sims, and the first record from singer-songwriter Skylar (Finan) Townsend, just to name a few. The most recent Holiday Heart release is from Tuscon’s Laura Jean Band.

Songwriter Tim Dulin is working on his fourth album with Sam in the Holiday Heart Studio. When asked about his experience working with Golden, Dulin said, “Sam is such an incredible musician and can play almost anything so I loved the idea of just handing over the songs and seeing what he wanted to do with them. Each song we worked on was better than the next, and he elevated these demos to places I never dreamed. Sam played all the instruments and did the arrangements, and I would come over during lock down and sing the songs into a mic on his back porch. The result was an album called Post op and we had a blast making it. By the time we worked on our second album I was healed and lock down was over and I was excited to be more involved in the production. The two of us work great and fast tonight and we produced a rock album called Hold on”

Dulin continued, “Sam works so fast and has so many great ideas. He can basically play anything, and if he knows so many great players that are all eager to work with him. Sam is so enthusiastic and excited to create stuff and great about taking input and giving suggestions and keeping the sessions moving.” One of Dulin’s favorite tracks in collaboration with Sam, is called “Tired of Me Yet”. Dulin loves “the drum sound and the way he (Sam) places the backup vocals is excellent”. 

From seasoned veterans to self-described “baby musicians” Skylar (Finan) Townsend had this to say about her experience collaborating with Golden, “Sam is always patient and understanding and never makes me feel dumb if I don’t know something. He really takes the time to explain what it is we are going to be working on with positive directives and goals. I’m so proud of my own music project because of the work that he’s helped put into it. There are a ton of people that probably wouldn’t risk to take the time with and overcharge a newbie, but Sam really believed in me, has treated me fairly and with respect I think that’s shown in the quality of the music we’ve produced so far for this project.”

Golden also finds time for personal, experimental projects. As a self-proclaimed “music theory ultra nerd,” his projects tend to be more cerebral. Exploring things like a classic piece and turning it on its head or modernizing a Bach piece by changing up the instrumentation – like “moving things to the upright bass to give it a jazzy feel and transforming them with arrangements making them more interesting and dynamic”  – creating something that might appeal to a brand new audience.

“What I want (it’s never going to happen) is to play every instrument that exists at a professional level. To be able to play any type of music with anybody… I want to record everyone. I want to do it all… it’s impossible, but I’m going to keep working toward it anyway,” mused Golden.

A couple of inspiring 2025 projects are coming up for Golden, including Tune Class – String Arranging w/ Sam Golden at the St. Louis String Collective on Saturday, March 15, 22, and 29th. Workshop registration is open until 3/7/25.  Later in the spring, Golden will leave on a cruise in May, where he will be joined by fellow St. Louisan T.J. Muller and musicians from across the country. They will perform in a 20s-style orchestra aboard the Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic cruise from Southhampton, England, to New York. 

Whether he’s the frontman, in the band, or behind the scenes, Sam Golden is influencing and shaping the St. Louis Music scene one track at a time.

Follow all the latest from Sam Golden and his Holiday Heart Studio on Instagram.

All photos taken by author