Bio
The Journey
Welcome to ‘The Journey’.
On Friday 31st December 1993 an exchange took place in the realm of the spirit that marked the start of a journey that is to lead a young man from darkness into light. Heaven seems to touch the earth as death was replaced for life and the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, that amazing grace came into force and pulled him off the path of death to the way of life.
That young man is Sam Opeche and the remarkable event that ensued on that night was so indelible that his life has never been the same since that night.
As a young man in his early 20s Sam was performing in parties in his local area and beyond – his fame was growing and he was gradually building a following, as there were sure signs of a rising star in his abilities to wow the people.
In the early 90s acts like Bobby Brown, Ghetto Boys, Scarface, Dr Dre, Snoop Dog, LL Cool J, Boyz II Men and a host of others were very influential in the music scenery in Nigeria and upcoming acts like Sam, who were able to deliver songs from these artist was sure to get the attention of party and club goers. Sam was alert to this and he worked hard to ensure that he lived up that expectation.
It was this that put him a podium above other acts at the time; and made him a sought after performer at parties in the local area and beyond.
Sam was born in Lagos Nigeria and grew up in a very disciplined environment, garnering valuable principles of life that has equipped him well to develop into a strong and confident person. His upbringing played an integral part in opening him up to the musical influences that helped to shape his desire for music.
From a teenager in the secondary school choir, in addition to singing solos at inter-school competitions developed a keen interest in playing the recorder – the first instrument that he learnt to play. So strong was his love for the instrument that he self taught himself how to work the piece and soon established himself in the school as a delight at the assembly ground.
Sam recalls spending enjoyable time most evenings after school playing and mastering the working of the recorder, neighbors, friends and peers he said would gather under the moon as the stars tinkled in the sky and Sam delights them with folklore tunes. These we exciting times he said.
During his senior secondary school days was when MC Hammer became the in thing and almost every school boy copied his dance moves in a bid to belong to the social class in the school. Sam was not left out in this craze, he and other boys will create a dance space in the class after the afternoon lecture, turn up the volume and begin the MC Hammer thing – this will usually last till it is time to go home. It was fun, Sam says and it kept school days very enjoyable and something to look forward to but it was short lived.
You see, words got round that Sam’s class had this habit of creating a dance frenzy in the classroom meant for learning and serious studies and this brought them to the attention of the school principal – a seasoned disciplinarian. Mr. Olasoji sensing that the pupils will ruin their educational chances if they go unchecked moved their classroom from one extreme end to the classroom nearest his office on the first floor so that he could keep an eye on them. Sam recollects that they still partied at times when the principal is on break or on a trip outside of the school.
This experiences helped to shape his love for music so that by the time he graduated from secondary school, his one desire was to grow his musical abilities and one-day release his own work.
Alive in this desire, Sam moved over to Abuja the new capital city of Nigeria, a fresh and upcoming city – in a bid to try new frontiers. The city was virgin putting Sam in a pivot position to shine through in the music scenery. It was here that he began to perform at parties working with a well-known promoter at the time. His fame was growing and he quickly became well sought after at gigs that mattered in Abuja. It was on one of such nights, on his way to what should have become his biggest show ever at the time, the first performance in a nightclub on Friday 31st December 1993 that the story changed – and so did ‘the journey’.
Sam recall that his dad did not approve of his ‘show boy’ life style and was determined to deter him from living that way. So as he prepared to leave the house that night for this much-anticipated gig, his father stood by the door preventing him from stepping out. A rancor between father and son opened up but Sam soon overpowered his dad and stormed out of the house, determined to get to his destination and live up to the expectations of his growing fans. Unknown to this very eager young man, this was not to be – God had other plans for his life.
About 500 yards from his father’s house where the tussle took place almost 10 minutes earlier, Sam standing by a culvert waiting for transportation to arrive. Felt a strong force overwhelm him and the next thing he knew was – he was slumped on the floor groaning and then suddenly slipped into a state of unconsciousness of his surroundings. His recollection of what followed that night was like something out of movie.
Sam saw a film being played where he was the actor. In this movie, he was shown the end of his journey along the path of a show boy’s life; it was unpleasant and scary – according to him. There is no accurate account of the time spent on this spot but it was about 15 minutes past 1am in the morning of the New Year 1994 when he walked into the same house he stormed out of at 10pm the previous night.
Under the gaze of his surprised father, he picked up a bible and headed for a church, any church will do so long as I can spend the rest of the morning in the presence of God and someone can pray for me and assure me that it is well, Sam said.
Yes you guessed right, he gave his life to Jesus and became a born again Christian. Although he did not make it to the supposed gig of his life, a bigger party was going on in the heavenly places as the angels of God rejoiced that another sinner had been snatched from the pangs of Satan to live for Jesus.
It was not long before this that Sam left the city and headed back to Lagos – his place of birth. To him, it was vital to leave behind everything that reminded him of being a ‘show boy’. He wanted an environment that will help him to build his newly found faith and Lagos being a thriving city for Christianity provided him that platform.
He joined The Redeemed Christian Church of God in April 1994 and immediately enlisted as a worker in the music department and soon became the main praise & worship leader and soloist in the church. Sam had begun a new journey into music and was learning the ways of church music in its many dimensions. His number one influence at the time was Lenny LeBlanc’s songs like ‘there’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus’, ‘faithful’, ‘there is none like you’ and many other influences from praise band, Maranatha singers and integrity music. Sam says “Lenny has had a profound impact on my writing abilities as I have studiously researched his songs in a hunger to discover myself as a songwriter.”
Over the years, Sam has groomed his song writing abilities by writing for special events in the church and creating songs that bore the theme of special programs within his denomination. One very popular song at the time was a song titled ‘welcome to Graceland’ used for welcoming first timers in the church at Enugu Nigeria. Sam laid his signature on this song such that hardly could anyone minister it like he would do.
In November 2000, 4 months after his marriage to the spark of his being – Elizabeth, Sam migrated to the United Kingdom to begin life as a married man. It will seem as though his focus on music was diverted at this junction of his life but Sam testifies that this was not so. Although his number one goal was music, he had to do other jobs in other to keep life moving until such a time that he is fully prepared to launch out. All the time, he never relented in his service to God in his local church.
As the days passed, he kept busy writing and improving his abilities in readiness for the time appointed – for the vision is for an appointed time. In 2005 he recorded a single titled ‘I Believe’ but this was never released because he felt that the song was not timely. A year later, working closely with his local church Sam released an album titled ‘Truth’ under the banner of the church and the proceeds of this project was given back to the church to aid the building fund project that the church was embarking on.
The album opened a lot of doors of ministry for him including places like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Sam said it was truly overwhelming and God lived up to His name, doing wonders and amazing things.
On the 1st of August 2009, Sam released to the world his first solo album called ‘The Journey’.
In his own words, Sam says - In this album - ‘The Journey’ – I have gone back to my roots and drawn inspiration from the wisdom that life has thought me as I have journeyed through the roads of success and failure yet staying strong and dedicated to the course for which I derive utmost pleasure in life, and that is making music.
From the young age of 20 it was evident to me what I was put here to do but life doesn’t always follow in the path that we dream it to follow, it just happens and we are left to pattern it to our desire as we grasp the power that lives within us.
Sam says his music is driven by a desire to help people experience a sense of encouragement and uplifting as they are inspired to hope and believe in the power that lie within us all. Tough times don't last but tough people do – he said, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Life is a journey, he is quick to remind you; tough sometimes it may be yet in the words of Churchill “success is the ability to maintain enthusiasm from one failure to the other”.
Sam is an ordained minster in The Redeemed Christian Church of God and he is the worship leader at the Living Spring Centre parish in Tottenham North London. He is blessed with 2 lovely children Nehemiah 3 and Esther 2.
Welcome to 'The Journey'! Again I say - Welcome to ‘The Journey’!!