ABOUT US
Passion Runs Deep
Sam Karr and Rick Greene grew up in Kentucky with bluegrass music as central parts of their lives.
Co-organizers of the IBMA award-winning SamJam Bluegrass Festival in Piketon, Ohio, the pair have created their own distinct brand. The festivals are high-energy with driving bluegrass bands, and the events also have amenities that generate a complete entertainment experience for fans. Also important to Karr and Greene
is being good corporate partners and ensuring everyone walks away satisfied with their experience.
Learn more about Sam Karr and Rick Greene below.
Sam Karr
Rick Greene
Sam Karr is an educator, basketball coach and was a member of the 1982 Kentucky All-Star basketball team. Karr has two daughters - Kylee Herndon and Ashton Karr, both in their 20s, and a big part of the many events throughout the year in bluegrass.
He is co-owner of SamJam Promotions, which operates the SamJam Bluegrass Festival in Piketon, Ohio. Karr is a 1982 graduate of Campbellsville High School and played college basketball at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina.
He has spent the last 20 plus years in Indiana schools, teaching biology and physical education. His hobbies besides bluegrass music include fishing, cooking, sports, and traveling. Karr lives in Marshall, Indiana, with his longtime girlfriend Meghan Doss.
Rick Greene is a communications professional and a contractor to the federal government who previously spent more than 20 years in daily newspapers in the Ohio Valley, including two editorships.
He is the owner of Southern Ohio Multimedia, LLC, and co-owner of SamJam Promotions, which operates the SamJam Bluegrass Festival in Piketon, Ohio. Greene grew up in Flatwoods, Kentucky, is a 1988 graduate of Russell High School and a 1993 graduate of the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism.
Greene lives in Waverly, Ohio, and is married to Brooke Greene. They have two children - Max, 22, and Ava, 16. His hobbies besides bluegrass music include golf, traveling, the periodically required trip to Keeneland Race Course, and following the Kentucky Wildcats.