Exclusive video premiere of ‘Barbed Wire’ by NY singer-songwriter Sam Kogon, taken from his forthcoming self-titled 4-track EP.

Kogon wrote and made demo recordings of these 4 news songs at home onto his 4-track tape recorder. The songs were then arranged with his band feat. Grennan Milliken on drums, James Preston on Bass, Graeme Gengras on keys, and Kogon on vocals and guitar.

“It was always a dream of mine to shoot a music video in my family’s pawn shop ‘Sam’s Swap Shop’ in uptown Kingston, NY the place I was named after. My grandpa Lonnie gave me my first guitar from the store so naturally I wanted the story to focus around a guitar, in this case it’s a 1963 Danelectro Convertible that came from Sam’s (a dream guitar of mine). The guitar represents lost love, regret, but also a fresh start. The store closed soon after filming and I still can’t watch the video without crying, but my grandpa always said “Tell it like it is” and I think we did that. Bravo to Jeff Mertz for capturing the legend of Sam’s and to my dad who blew me away with his acting. Sam Kogon

“Sam and I came up with the concept sort of organically. We knew pretty early on we wanted to shoot inside the Kogon family pawn shop, especially as it was slated to close for good within the year. As we were figuring out exactly what the story would be, I was struck by the persistence of Sam’s name through generations of his family – every family member who came to run the shop took on the mantle of ‘Sam’. It felt like there was this sort of mythos to the name, so there’s all these easter eggs throughout the video – the portraits on the shop walls, the gravestone, the last shopkeeper (played by Debbie ‘Sam’ Kogon) are all ‘Sams’. The shop itself was also charged with nostalgia, so the story kind of naturally evolved into being about an older Sam Kogon (played by Lou, Sam’s dad) who’s reflecting on missed opportunities and regret, but is ultimately given a second chance, which he proudly takes. I actually ended up moving to Kingston, NY, where the video was shot, a few years later, and it’s a little surreal to witness the rabid gentrification that ultimately supplanted Sam’s Swap Shop with a bland art gallery, but I’m grateful to have captured a small slice of local history while it was around. The video itself feels like a sort of second chance for the shop and the myth of ‘Sam Kogon,’ wherever in time we may find them.” Jeff Mertz

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