Grand Rapidian Sam Stryke on Christmas carols, Oprah and being a band nerd
By Lucinda hahn From the December/January 2007 Issue
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Lake Magazine covers the hottest information on the Lake Michigan area.
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Sam Stryke, 36, began composing during high school in Grand Rapids. He’s since written music for Oprah Winfrey, commercials and three albums. In December, he and his band play a contemporary instrumental Christmas Memories Concert in Three Oaks, Mich., and Grand Rapids, and Stryke also guest performs with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra.
Favorite Christmas carol?
Probably “Still, Still, Still.”
Should I be ashamed I don’t know that one?
It’s on my CD Christmas. It’s a more obscure, traditional carol, usually performed by a choir, and it just has a great vibe.
Least favorite carol?
I can’t reach for the radio knob fast enough when “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” comes on. That’s the antithesis of what my CD is. It’s jarringly peppy and somewhat obnoxious.
What were you like at Forrest Hills High School?
I was in the top five of my class. I was very much into doing my own music; I played trumpet.
You were a band nerd?
Maybe one of the cooler band nerds!
Three holiday CDs that every good citizen should own?
A Frank Sinatra Christmas CD – they’re the classics. Oh, and my CD! And then maybe a Mannheim Steamroller. People have loved those for the past 10 or 15 years.
What did you write for Oprah Winfrey?
My partner, Sandy Torano, and I did the music for her XM Radio show, so it’s played a lot. On her TV special [about Winfrey’s Leadership Academy for Girls in Africa], I wrote the theme song.
But your Bud Lite music is your most famous, right?
Those ads have been on the radio for seven or eight years now, the “Real Men of Genius” campaign.You can hear it on Budlight.com.
You live in Chicago now. What do you miss about Grand Rapids?
I worked at JT’s Pizza Depot, and I miss the pizza.
Finally, what’s the funniest carol of all time?
“Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” always makes me laugh when it comes on the radio. I’ve heard that a million times, and I still find the “She’d been drinking too much eggnog” line funny.
See Samstryke.com for info on his concerts in Three Oaks, Mich., and Grand Rapids.
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