Sammy Arriaga Brings ‘Banjos N’ Bongos’ Together For His Debut EP

Sammy Arriaga is bringing the beach a little bit closer to the landlocked heart of country music.

Sammy Arriaga Brings ‘Banjos N’ Bongos’ Together For His Debut EP
Photo courtesy Sweet Talk PR

Sammy Arriaga is bringing the beach a little bit closer to the landlocked heart of country music. Mixing together his Latin-inspired roots with the traditional twang of the South, Arriaga blends Miami and Nashville into one perfect pairing.

The Florida native grew up embracing his heritage, but by high school, it was country music that dominated his speakers. Combining both his loves for his upbringing and teenage genre of choice, Arriaga created his own sound to bring to the Music City community.

“It [country music] inspired me to pick up a guitar and write songs. But I’ve done a really cool kind of a fusion, just putting acoustic guitars and banjos and country instruments like pedal steels with instruments like bongos or congas that you normally hear in a Latin song,” explained Arriaga to Sounds Like Nashville.

While Arriaga may not be the first to sample those tropical sounds on a country tune, his fresh take on the idea presents a whole new category of the genre many have never heard before.

“There’s a few other artists in country music who have done it in the past like Zac Brown and Kenny Chesney, which are two of my huge influences,” he said. “I just thought being from Miami and being Latin-American that it would just be the most natural thing to me and just very real to my nature so that’s how my sound came to be.”

His latest single, “Cold in Miami,” fully embodies Arriaga’s laidback vibe; although the song may be about a falling out with a true love, it remains reminiscent of the beachy flair of the rest of his EP, Banjos N’ Bongos, releasing tomorrow.

“It’s just pretty much a story about lost love. It’s a true story to me being from Miami. It’s about missing your opportunity of missing someone who could have been very special to you and it’s definitely a double entendre because we all know Miami is never cold,” Arriaga joked.

Arriaga plans to take full advantage of his summery feel when he plays the Gildan Broadway Stage outside of the Hard Rock Café at CMA Music Festival in June. A little bit of sunshine will complement his outgoing tunes for his CMA Fest set, which he said he feels honored to have been invited.

Ironically enough, it won’t be Arriaga’s first time at country music’s biggest festival. In fact, CMA Fest gave him a taste of Nashville when he first moved here.

“My first job when I moved to Nashville was working at Rippy’s Bar and Grill on Broadway right across from the Bridgestone,” he said. “I actually moved during my first CMA Fest, so I got to experience CMA Fest right from the get-go. So I was ironically playing at Rippy’s while the Fest was going on.”

While Arriaga lucked out on free tickets to the field show that year, he’ll be sure to try and catch a few other artists throughout the Fest that he admits he’s a fan of.

“I’ve always loved Kacey Musgraves. I really love how real her lyrics are and how honest her music is. I also heard Jake Owen’s gonna come out. My music being so beachy and summery, you already know how I like Jake Owen,” he said.

Get your shades on and your margaritas ready, because Arriaga is about to become one of country music’s go-to summer anthem artists.

Before Sammy Arriaga’s EP drops tomorrow, we have the exclusive first listen to Banjos N’ Bongos! Stream the EP in its entirety below.