Samantha Windover

To hear Samantha Windover’s voice for the first time is nothing short of a musical revelation. Warm and rich like a classic record, it carries through the air with ease, delivering lyrics that capture life’s universal yet deeply personal moments. 

It would be fair to say that music helped raise Samantha. By the time the Orillia-based singer was ten, she was already performing at music festivals and touring regularly. Now only in her mid-twenties, Samantha boasts an enviable career: having worked with industry legends such as Beau Dixon, Russell de Carle, and Lori Yates, played countless festivals and concerts, and released multiple singles—with a highly anticipated EP on the horizon.

Her first big break came through the Children’s Miracle Network, where she toured for a number of years as part of the show before her talents led her to taking part in the affiliated Patsy Cline tribute shows, touring multiple cities to raise money for the charity. Her connection to Cline’s music was unmistakable, and it wasn’t long before she became a staple at the annual Patsy Cline birthday concert, shared the stage with Duff MacDonald for the Hank and Patsy hoedown show in Orillia, and recorded demos of "Walking After Midnight" and "Crazy" for Heather Morgan in Toronto.

Alongside these performances, Samantha never stopped singing at gigs big and small. So far she has graced the stages of venues and events like the Showplace Performance Centre in Peterborough, Hugh’s Room in Toronto, and most notably, the main stage of the Mariposa Folk Festival, where local media gave her the title of “Mariposa Scene Stealer”.

While mostly known for her love of old country, her musical influences are broad, ranging from Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Frank Sinatra and Joni Mitchell to Loretta Lynn, Bob Dylan, and of course Patsy Cline. Nowhere are these influences more apparent than in her own written songs.

Samantha’s songwriting process is deeply personal, drawing from life experiences and her own emotions, putting more of a focus on storytelling. At the age of 16, she made her debut as a songwriter with the folk-rock-infused Western Horizon. With lilting vocals that flow like the wind, the song’s words came to her while driving with her father in their home of Orillia. “I was driving with my dad, talking about what kind of song I wanted to write,” she explains. “At some point he looked at the western horizon we were driving past and said, ‘Let’s start with that.’ After that the words for the song, about my love of being in Orillia, just flowed.” 

Other songs include the touching Life Goes On, about the death of a beloved family friend, and One of These Days, a honky-tonk style breakup song with the amazing line “One of these days you’ll call me back, but all you’ll get is my voicemail track,” and her latest, a cover on Caroll Baker’s heartfelt song, Picture My Love on You, recorded with the star’s blessing.

Currently, Samantha is working on an upcoming EP.  The four-track Second Decade is slated for a 2025 release and will be produced by recording the album in Peterborough with producer James McKenty.

The road to success is a long one, but throughout the years Samantha Windover has proven time and time again that she’s willing to put in the miles. With a voice brought up by musical legends and songwriting that puts her heart out into the world, her incredible talent and dedication to the musical craft has taken her a long way already. Where she goes from here, only she knows.