A Firm Handshake is a folk band made up of three people, Samantha (Sammy) Brown(vocals), Reed Redmond(percussion), and the Late Zach Sobiech(Guitar and vocals). These three lifelong friends formed the band in 2009.
You wonder why I say late?
On May 20, 2013 at the age of 18, Zach Sobiech passed away from osteosarcoma, which is a bone cancer that affects children. There is no cure.
It was in 2009 at the age of 14 Zach went for a run, and came home with hip pain. Pushing it off as a pulled muscle, his mom took him to the doctor. An MRI showed a plumb sized tumor.
10 surgeries and 20 rounds of chemo later, he still hadn't beat it. He was told in June of 2012 he had months to a year left to live. In October of 2012 they found that the cancer was still spreading in his lungs. His mom told him he might want to start writing letters to say goodbye. Since he had learned to play the guitar at age 11, and knowing that he wasn't good at writing letters, he started writing songs.
He went on to write "Clouds" as a farewell to his family and friends.
After being selected to participate in a radiothon at local radio station, he did a cover of I am yours for them(Jason Miraz) Asking him for more, he sent in acoustic cover of "Clouds"
They asked him to do a studio version of the song, and they did in December of 2012. This is when a Firm Handshake took off. They had several opportunities to perform for large audiences this past winter.
A Firm Handshake went on to release their first CD, Fix Me Up, featuring Clouds, Star Hopping, Sand castles, and Fix me up, Zach's goodbye to his best friend Sammy Brown. The CD can be downloaded through i tunes, or the CD can be purchased through and indepented retailerElectric Fetus , although there are very few copies left.
"Clouds" was #1 single on i tunes this past May, and their album "Fix me up" was ranked #5. "Clouds" has close to 3 million views I believe on youtube.
They were featured by People Magazine online
In May, Soul Pancake made a short documentry on Zach - it goes much more in depth than my summary.
Clouds
