Sam
Sam covers contemporary pop and R&B from the perspective of an outlet that treats chart music as full-scale pop culture, not just releases and reviews. His work at That Grape Juice focuses on how new music, star personas, and industry moments intersect, often framing breaking news and announcements around the careers and narratives of major artists. He writes as a working editor as well as a reporter, so his coverage balances fast-turn items with longer, more curated features that anchor the masthead’s music agenda.
Urban pop and mainstream music news
Sam’s day-to-day coverage sits at the junction of urban pop, R&B, and mainstream chart acts, with That Grape Juice positioned as a “#1 source for Urban Pop Culture Music, News, Gossip, Reviews, Celebrity Interviews and much more.” His pieces often focus on marquee names and moments: he has run tributes and features around artists such as Michael Jackson, including a dedicated “Michael Jackson – A That Grape Juice Tribute,” showing a willingness to treat major legacy acts as editorial events rather than single posts. On the contemporary side, he handles core news functions like new videos, singles, and high-profile performances, for example posts such as “New Video: The Saturdays – ‘Missing You’” and coverage of Jay-Z’s “Answer The Call” concert performances. Over time this has produced a consistent lane: rapid, headline-led coverage of new releases and performances, framed for an audience that follows both chart success and culture around the artists.
Recent work continues that pattern around current stars. One of his recent articles covers Ariana Grande revealing the full tracklist for her album “Petal,” treating a tracklist reveal as news in itself and emphasizing the details of the rollout and what it signals for the project. Other current posts under his byline include updates on Lionel Richie’s health after a frightening moment on stage and Omarion’s response to public remarks by Bow Wow about their relationship status, both written as music news items anchored in artist narrative and fan concern rather than pure gossip. Across eras, he uses a straightforward news format — clear headline, quick context, and key details — but the angle is almost always about how a given development fits into an artist’s wider story.
Artist-focused storytelling and interviews
Alongside straight news, Sam regularly pushes toward artist-focused storytelling that goes beyond a single release or announcement. His archive includes exclusives and features such as “Exclusive: Halle Berry on Defying Ageism & Dazzling in ‘Crime 101’,” which positions a major figure in a conversational, personality-led format rather than just promoting a project. He has also fronted live and interactive content, such as the “Watch: Fifth Harmony Q&A With That Grape Juice! #5HTGJ” live stream, where he and the outlet host US group Fifth Harmony for a fan-facing question-and-answer session. These pieces show a recurring pattern: Sam uses interviews and specials to connect audiences directly with artists and performers, often highlighting themes like longevity, image, and audience connection.
Even when the subject moves beyond strict music output, the focus remains on the people behind the work and their place in pop culture. Legacy content around artists like Toni Braxton and Christina Milian, as well as relationship and life updates involving performers, is presented with the same emphasis on career stakes and image. This makes his section of the masthead a natural home for stories that hinge on how artists manage eras, reinventions, and public perception, not just what they release next.
Shaping the outlet’s editorial direction
Sam is the founder and editor of That Grape Juice, having started the site as a hobby in 2007 and grown it into a leading urban pop culture outlet. As creator and editor, he sets the tone for the outlet’s coverage, which is explicitly framed around music, news, gossip, reviews, and celebrity interviews for a pop and R&B-oriented audience. His role as editor means he is not only writing but also commissioning and shaping the broader editorial mix, from breaking music stories to long-form features and multimedia executions. External profiles describe him as running one of the internet’s key urban pop culture sites, reinforcing that his work is tied to the outlet’s brand as much as to his own bylines.
As a result, stories under his name often carry the outlet’s signature voice — direct, fan-aware, and focused on the intersection of music and celebrity — while also acting as tentpole pieces that signal what the masthead considers important. When That Grape Juice undertakes special coverage such as awards-show reporting or high-profile concerts, his byline appears on event-roundups and highlight posts, underscoring his role in steering the outlet’s response to major calendar moments. This combination of editorial leadership and regular writing makes him central to how That Grape Juice presents music news and artist narratives to its audience.
4 more music journalists.
Abigail Kellett
Abigail Kellett is a news reporter at the Halifax Courier who stands out for visually led coverage that shows how culture, nightlife and local life play out on the ground. She documents gigs, festivals and major live shows at venues such as The Piece Hall through curated photo sets that capture atmosphere, crowd and setting as much as performers, and she uses extensive image galleries to tap reader nostalgia for nights out in Halifax town centre. Her beat spans arts, entertainment, going out, heritage, books and literary events, along with community life, people stories, local challenges, milestones, transport, regeneration, lifestyle and food. She reports through photographs, checklist-style features, reader-driven lists and roundups of most-read stories, turning announcements, programmes, author events, festivals, shop lists and everyday characters into stories about place, shared memory and how people spend their time.
Adam Lyon
Adam Lyon is a digital audience and content editor whose news beat sits at the intersection of Ayrshire’s cultural life, business environment and public affairs. He works for the Ayr Advertiser and as Digital Audience & Content Editor for Newsquest in the west of Scotland across multiple weekly titles. He covers Ayrshire news with a strong thread of music and local culture alongside business, courts and public affairs. He reports on music when it has a clear community or national hook, treating songs as news events rather than reviews. His business work explains how local firms and retail policy shape town centres. His court coverage uses round-ups of sheriff court cases to show patterns and outcomes. He also fronts video previews and is active in a football supporters trust community.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What’s On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose work links big-name gigs, new venues and cultural flashpoints to everyday fan culture and inclusion. He covers music, nightlife and the wider cultural scene for the Manchester Evening News, focusing on how concerts, openings and immersive events land with real people and communities. His beat spans live music, arenas and stadiums, new restaurant and bar openings, food reviews, exhibitions, street art and nightlife infrastructure, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ audiences and neighbourhoods. He reports on venue ambitions and problems, cultural institutions and equality issues, and franchise-led experiences, using straightforward, on-the-ground reporting and clear description. Drawing on a background in community reporting, he looks for underrepresented perspectives and uses social media, analytics and local sourcing to find stories where culture, identity and place meet.
Alison Brinkworth
Alison Brinkworth is a freelance journalist who treats music as a gateway into place, history and everyday life, often through exhibitions, performances and city-centre events. She covers music within the wider cultural and lifestyle scene, leaning toward accessible, on-the-ground stories framed by familiar artists, venues and local attractions. Her work often focuses on music exhibitions and attractions built around well-known performers, alongside theatre reviews, live events and city attractions. She brings a lifestyle, travel and human-interest sensibility, using interviews and personal stories to show how people spend their time. With over 25 years of experience across print, digital, social media and internal communications, she writes clear, factual, audience-facing articles with dates, locations and organisers, suited to listings, guides and practical recommendations.