A SOMERSET singer who won his place at Glastonbury Festival has reflected on the “dream” experience of performing at Worthy Farm.

Sam Evans and his self-titled band played on the BBC Introducing Stage on the festival's Thursday afternoon (June 27).

Past performers on the same stage include Ed Sheeran (2011) and George Ezra (2013), plus BRIT Rising Star winner Holly Humberstone (2019).

The opportunity came after Sam and his band won the Pilton Stage competition alongside Stone Jets, a London-based band, in March.

They saw off more than 1,000 entrants to earn their place in the final at Pilton Working Men's Club, where they impressed a judging panel that included festival founder Sir Michael Eavis and television presenter Sarah Beeny.

That led to the band being booked for a 30-minute slot at the iconic festival, which they grasped with a dynamic performance that left the crowd shouting for more.

Speaking to the County Gazette after the dust settled on his festival experience, Wells singer Sam, 29, said: “It was amazing.

“The BBC Introducing Stage is, for any musician that considers themselves up-and-coming, the benchmark place to play.

“Some musicians skip it. They blow up on TikTok or something and they get snapped up by a label and then are put on another stage.

“But to go through the BBC Introducing Stage – it sounds clichéd – is an absolute dream come true.”

Sam and his band were joint winners alongside London-based band Stone Jets.Sam and his band were joint winners alongside London-based act Stone Jets. (Image: Sam Evans)

His band consists of guitarist Jonny Turner, who he met at secondary school, drummer Wilf Blomfield and bassist Ben Carver, who joined last year.

Sam – who counts James Morrison, Jason Mraz and Paolo Nutini among his musical influences – is more used to playing at pubs than festivals but enjoyed the chance to perform to a large, energetic crowd at Glastonbury.

“Because we played on the Thursday, a lot of the other main stages weren’t open,” he said.

“To be programmed in then meant people were almost looking for something to do. We started playing, the sun was out and people got into it!

“If we were booked on Sunday, it would have been a different energy. But we had that fresh, excited energy from everyone who had just got to Glastonbury.

“The intention with our music is to get people moving. It’s high-energy; we want it to be really rocking.”

The crowd at the BBC Introducing Stage.The crowd at the BBC Introducing Stage. (Image: Newsquest)

Their journey to the BBC Introducing Stage began when Sam submitted a video of himself singing one of his songs, ‘Watch Your Step’, to enter the contest.

“I sent it in and didn’t really think too much about it,” he said.

“And then we got an email saying, ‘out of 1,000 entrants, you’re in the final 30’.

“They asked what line-up I was going to bring. I do a lot of solo gigs for income, but I’ve been working with my band for a long time.

“I said, ‘I’m going to bring the band along’. And it’s a good job I did, because they’re really talented.”

They had to make it through a heat – also held at the working men's club – to qualify for the final, when Sam did well to overcome a mistake as he left his guitar capo in his case so had to dash off the stage mid-set to retrieve it.

But he thinks their positive reaction could have been a factor in their win.

Sam said: “Things don’t always go perfectly, and we dealt with it well, didn’t stop the show and cracked on.”

With Glastonbury behind him, Sam has a few new songs in the pipeline, including ‘It’s Only Love’, which he recorded with Mercury-nominated producer Drew Horley and is due to be released at the end of this week.

For more information on Sam and his upcoming live performances, visit samevansmusic.co.uk.