Samuel Paul "Sammy" Kershaw (born February 24, 1958, in Kaplan, Louisiana) is an American Country and Western music singer and songwriter. He is a relative of Cajun music legend, Doug Kershaw. After the death of his father when Sammy was 11, he worked a variety of jobs by day while playing roadhouses at night to support his family. During that time, he opened shows for Ray Price, Merle Haggard and George Jones while barely into his teens. When the pressures of growing up fast took their toll in the form of a serious drug and alcohol problem, he quit his bad habits cold turkey in 1988 and took a break from music to work as a remodeling supervisor at Wal-Mart.