I never really notice “background” songs playing during TV shows. Obviously, it makes more sense to pay attention to the dialogue more than anything else. BUT as I was watching Grey’s Anatomy this past weekend, I couldn’t help but notice the ballad playing as Owen and Christina went through another one of their ‘I love you and I don’t know why’ scenes.

I noticed it so much so, that I paused the show and got up from my couch to look up the song…and that’s saying a lot.

As it turns out, the song was a cover of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I know” by Sam Smith. It also turns out that it’s not available ANYWHERE yet, which is disappointing, I know.**UPDATE: THE VIDEO IS AVAILABLE HERE** 

For a little background, Sam Smith is a 21-year old singer that was born in the small Cambridgeshire satellite town Linton. He grew up in a household that was full of soul music – the first album that moved him was Whitney Houston’s My Love is Your Love, and one of the first songs he understood was Aretha’s Say A Little Prayer. He was trained by a jazz singer where the first song he learnt the craft and composition of was Frank Sinatra’s Come Fly With Me. For more info see abc’s blog.

Ultimately, you may recognize Sam as the singer on Naughty Boy’s La La La, or Disclosure’s Latch, but interestingly he has yet to release his debut album. What does this mean? It means you can go to his Soundcloud and download his single Money on My Mind for free. You can also download his Nirvana EP, which is incredible.

Most importantly though, you can still get fairly reasonable tickets to one of his live shows. Personally, I’m a little upset that I missed the boat on his Webster Hall performance (tonight at 8 pm), but if you’re one of those with a little extra cash you can go over to Stub Hub and buy a ticket for ~$70 (they were originally $18). If you’re not in NY, check out his upcoming tour dates to see if he’s coming to a city near you: www.samsmithworld.com/live

Sam’s album In the Lonely Hour is set to drop on June 17, but is available for pre-order if you need to feel reassured that you’ll be one of the first on the bandwagon.

Next time he’s in NYC, I’ll let you guys know. Until then, let’s jam to Money on My Mind and Latch…