Biography

From the city of Ragland, AL, we introduce to you, anointed Keyboardist, Sam Thomas. Sam is and has been the phenomenal keys player of OPOV Band for 4 years now. However, he didn’t start there. Sam began playing drums at the age of 3 years old. He stated that his grandfather bought him a beginner’s drum set. He then became a church musician at the young age of 7. His father gifted him his first “real” Ludwig drum set when he was just 8 years old. Sam learned to play “keys” fluidly by the age of 18 when his father’s church found themselves in need of an organist. This came after Sam’s older brother left the church to begin his own ministry. Needless to say, Sam’s musical roots are grounded in the church. Sam is definitely a force to be reckoned with on the keys, however when asked who has made an impact on him musically, he responded with his brothers Marshal and Stanley. Both of Sam’s brothers raised him as a musician and taught him musicianship. Other notable influences of Sam’s include Prince, Fred Hammond, Kevin Turner; Kirk Franklin and Tye Tribbett. Sam’s passion for music awarded him the John Phillip Sousa award in his high school band. Over the years, Sam’s faithfulness while working in the music ministry has given him the opportunity to hold several positions in the church, including the National Minister of Music and Director of Music and Fine Arts. Sam previously owned a record label and has recorded with artists.

One of Sam’s goals is to heavily increase his horizon and stretch his musical ability to be able to play any style and genre of music sharing an Original Point of View (OPOV). Sam says, “music is a gift from the almighty God that positively affects humans’ spirituality.” Lastly, Sam would like to see OPOV Band reach the world with a great experience of positive musical effects on peoples’ lives. “To some bands, the end goal is performance and entertainment but to Sam, it’s a ministry of providing a positive experience through music.”