In today’s country genre, it’s no longer enough to have a great song. The digital age has made it possible for anyone to record and release music. There needs to be a differentiator - something that, when paired with undeniable talent, draws both industry and audience in.
Enter Sammy Arriaga. “I’m not afraid to try what others won’t. That’s my superpower.”
Indeed, the Miami native has marched to the beat of his own drum from the start. A first generation Cuban American, Arriaga was raised in a culture that celebrated music and immersed him in the Spanish language. Inheriting talents from his grandfather - a singer that, ironically, he was too young to remember meeting - and an unmatched work ethic from his father, Arriaga’s destiny seemed written in the stars from the start. But it wasn’t that straightforward.
“I was really into sports when I was younger. I was into cards, games, sports… I played soccer for a long time. That’s really where I started to gain confidence in myself and my abilities.”
But during Freshman year of high school, Arriaga found his voice, setting him on his current trajectory. “Pretty quickly after, I picked up the guitar and started learning to play via videos I found on YouTube. I also started writing my own lyrics. Once I learned to play guitar, my songwriting journey began.” Drawing inspiration from artists like Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Michael Buble, and more, he honed his own sound - a blend of his Latin roots and passion for the classic country sound. After a “brief pit stop” in Winter Park, Florida to attend Full Sail for production, Arriaga opted to hit the gas and aim north, heading to Nashville to officially commit to a career in music. “I had a glove compartment full of jewel cases. I would read through all the liner notes, and I got to know who all the key players were. I would find them on Facebook, friend them, and send them a SoundCloud link, asking for thoughts, feedback, ideas… anything.” The hustle paid off when hit songwriter Monty Powell (“One Of These Days” for Tim McGraw, “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” for Keith Urban) responded, ultimately prompting Arriaga’s move. Powell was also kind enough to put a roof over his head for a few days until he got on his feet. “I had no plan, no apartment - honestly, I was going to sleep in my car and put towels over the windows.”
Not one to waste time, Arriaga hit the ground running. His first week in Nashville, he landed a standing gig at one of the city’s historic Broadway venues, and began taking meetings with anyone that would say “yes.” “I dove in head first.” That first week kicked off a 14-year growth process for Arriaga, one that found him brushing elbows and collaborating with some of today’s biggest stars (Lainey Wilson, Brett Young, Meghan Trainor, to name a few), and establishing himself as a mainstay. “It’s required me to evolve quite a bit. But I’ve always stuck to my guns. I’ve not adapted to what’s hot, what’s hyped. I’ve always wanted to merge my background with the country genre. I’m an artist that can wear that Hispanic-American crown proudly, because I was raised that way. It’s who I am. I speak it, I live it, I am it. So much of what I do celebrates that - many of my songs are also done in Spanish, and some Spanglish.”
A large part of that evolution was the digital revolution. “Social media wasn’t huge when I first got here, but it’s given me the tools to build a career on my own terms. To do me.’” He also began dabbling in NFTs - a world not often understood by the country music community, but one that’s taken Arriaga’s career to the next level. “I was one of the first artists to create a music-based NFT. The process opened my eyes to a new form of music distribution - one that bypassed the gatekeepers and put the power of value back into the artist’s hands.”
Spring boarding off his success in the digital space, and confident in who he is as an artist, Arriaga continues his career in lock-step with his new label, Dead Rose Records, in partnership with Walk Off Entertainment and Virgin Music, and with an immediate goal in mind. “It’s been years of hearing ‘it’s never going to be you.’ I’ve turned that into fuel and I’ve assembled with the best team an artist can ask for, and I’m ready to let them do what they do best. I want to set an example for indie artists everywhere. I want them to see that anything is possible and that we have all the tools to make any dream a reality right in front of us. Just gotta want it…And want it bad!”
Arriaga recently dropped his debut singles under the label partnership: “Left My Heart In Texas,” “Moves Like Mexico,”, “Selena”, and “Born Again”. All four tunes were released in English and Spanish, paving the way for Arriaga’s bilingual album release, released on October 31st. He recently ventured out on his Left My Heart In Texas Tour, which included several stops in Texas and a festival in Mexico, as he gears up for the second leg of the tour in the spring of 2026.
Arriaga is a first generation, Cuban-American artist known for fusing his Latino roots with Country music through thoughtfully curated instrumentation, melodic phrasing, and authentic storytelling. He showcases this sound with his "Country Latino Sessions" YouTube series and on his new album, Heart in Texas. In addition to forging a lane with the Country Latino sound since moving to Nashville in 2011, he's also a trailblazer in the digital world as one of the first music artists globally to create a music NFT, creating a new blueprint to marketing and distributing music independently. He has amassed more than 2 million social followers and recently surpassed 100M global music streams across Spotify/Apple - First Nashville-based, Country Latino artist to do so. In 2025, Arriaga released 12 new singles under the label partnership with Walk Off Entertainment, including English + Spanish versions of “Left My Heart In Texas,” “Moves Like Mexico,” and "Born Again." These original songs paved the way for his milestone bilingual album which released in October.
Share With Friends