Lauren Adams began her musical career on the famed Troubadour stage in West Hollywood, CA in 1978 and hasn’t stopped moving since. Opening for such folks as Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell and sharing the stage and recording with LA stalwarts, Mark Pocket Goldberg, Dave Fraser, Ernest Troost amongst others, Adams is a multi-instrumentalist that finds her niche in the Americana and singer-songwriter world. And not only is she a performer, Adams founded and curated the 10 yearlong music series, “The Americana Music Circle” in Los Angeles.
Adams is a songwriter and at the heart of her music is a mix of Americana, folk, rock and roots. Heartfelt and full of emotion, Adams always adds her sense of humor making the music also fun and upbeat. “My knack is writing from the heart, melody, hooks and good guitar playing,” said Adams, “The next song is usually quite different from the last song you heard.”
On Somewhere Else she kicks it off with a twangy, Roy Orbison inspired number, “It Takes What it Takes” then moves to the title track, “Somewhere Else”. Adams thought about the adage, ‘wherever you go, there you are’ and acknowledges “It’s the same with a relationship breakup. It just feels like you need to be somewhere else to get over it, but that’s not true.” The finger-picking style of the song is close to her heart and the with Luke Halpin adding some beautiful mandolin and Hank VanSickle on the upright bass, Lauren claims, “This is the closest to a bluegrass song that I’ve ever written.”
“Oh Marie” is a waltz that paints a sadly beautiful tale of a vulnerable woman and a cheating cad, that has Dave Frazer adding his amazing accordion. Adams rocks out with “We Try Harder” a fun, raw song that has Lynn Coulter augmenting with vocals and drums and which Adams claims was inspired by “The old Avis rent-a-car slogan that kept banging around in my brain.” “Bay View Drive” is a positive song that documents a family’s passage through time and has the feel of 70’s AM radio.
Ending with the only cover on the album, “Seminole Wind” is a song written by John Anderson in the 1980’s that deals with the Seminole tribes in Florida, dealing with the loss of habitat. It’s also a song that lets the band stretch out and rock with Coulter and Goldberg laying it down and Kirgo coming in hard on the guitar.
Adams tells the story of how her musical yearnings came into being. “I was about 8 years old and my mother took me to see a local high-school production of ‘The Music Man’. As we were leaving, I started sobbing. When Mom asked me why I was crying, I said, ‘I didn’t know you could do that!’—The orchestra, the actors, the tech people were all kids! That was the moment something came alive in me.” Soon after, Adams’ parents brought home a little stereo and the 45” records started flowing in.
Lauren Adams writes from her own experiences whether it is an actual experience, a dream, an inspired photograph, or a slogan that sticks in her head. “I think the stories are a little more intense on Somewhere Else, than any of my previous records, “ confided Adams. “Lyricists enamor me. I love how their stories touch me. I always wanted to be one of the people on the 45 “records that I played over and over again as a child.”
You can spin Somewhere Else over and over again after the release date of August 19th.
laurenadams.com
No comments:
Post a Comment