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Speaker 1: Taking a Walk. I'll look out and I'll see a

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Speaker 1: lot of faces. I recognize it. And every one of

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Speaker 1: those people we joke about this from the stage. Every

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Speaker 1: one of those people has an origin story with me.

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Speaker 1: None of them. None of those origin stories came from

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Speaker 1: the radio or a fancy write or a fancy soundtrack.

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Speaker 1: It came from one of their friends, usually dragging them

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Speaker 1: out and saying, hey, you got to listen to these guys.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast, the podcast hosted

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Speaker 2: by Buzznight, who talks with musicians and insiders and gets

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Speaker 2: the stories behind the music. On this episode, Buzz speaks

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Speaker 2: with underground indie artist Adam Ezrak. Adam has built a

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Speaker 2: fan community, one fan at a time, and he creates

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Speaker 2: great music, great events, all benefiting important causes. Adam has

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Speaker 2: collaborated with John Oates of Hall and Oates Fan and

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Speaker 2: he tells us about that and much more now on

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Speaker 2: Taking a Walk with Buzz Night.

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Speaker 3: So, Adam, thanks for being on Taking a Walk, and

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Speaker 3: thanks for all the great, amazing work you do for

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Speaker 3: so many communities. Where did you first get inspired to

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Speaker 3: build community as a musician?

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Speaker 1: Oh man, that's a really uh, that's a that's a

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Speaker 1: good question, h and a quick answer. It's it's you know,

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Speaker 1: my my mom is uh, it's a musician as well.

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Speaker 1: When I was growing up, she was a music educator,

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Speaker 1: but she was also a songwriter and uh and friends

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Speaker 1: with a ton of folk musicians. She would play music

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Speaker 1: constantly in the house, but she was also connected to

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Speaker 1: people that were they were They were out there making

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Speaker 1: a difference to the music that they made.

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Speaker 3: That's wonderful. Do you remember the first time you went

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Speaker 3: to see music performed in a concert setting? Oh?

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Speaker 1: Man, I mean she, I mean there were there were

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Speaker 1: a couple of formatives. First there my very first concert

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Speaker 1: she actually took me to because I was a little

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Speaker 1: kid and I loved Weird Al Yankovic, and she took

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Speaker 1: me to a Weird Al and the Monkeys were playing

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Speaker 1: over at Great Woods, down the roads from our house

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Speaker 1: in Massachusetts, and I went to see that. But I

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Speaker 1: would say years years later. The more formative moment I

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Speaker 1: think was, you know, as a sixteen year old just

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Speaker 1: getting my license in high school, heading out again to

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Speaker 1: green Woods. But we would go down all summer long

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Speaker 1: to see that. The concerts that came through the Alman

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Speaker 1: Brothers and Steve Miller, right, like just these these and

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Speaker 1: I would go to these places, twenty thousand people and

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Speaker 1: I was just a kid. I didn't anybody there, right,

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Speaker 1: but suddenly I felt this right connection with to everybody,

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Speaker 1: and I just I felt like so strange to be

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Speaker 1: in a field with twenty thousand strangers, but none of

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Speaker 1: them you don't like strangers by the end of the night.

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Speaker 1: And and that was that was an amazing impactful That

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Speaker 1: was an amazing pactful, impactful thing for me to experiences

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Speaker 1: as a young fella.

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Speaker 3: Do you remember the ad for Maxell, the one where

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Speaker 3: the guys sitting in the chair.

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Speaker 1: And yes, with the with with with the drink, that

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Speaker 1: wind is blowing the drink into his hand while.

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Speaker 3: He's just you know, knocked out, almost you know, literally

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Speaker 3: blown away. Yeah, So was there was there a moment

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Speaker 3: one of those Great Woods shows that you just, you know,

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Speaker 3: to this day kind of go, I can't believe I

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Speaker 3: saw this band there, Whether it was the Allman Brothers

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Speaker 3: on their shows or Steve Miller or you know, is

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Speaker 3: there one that sticks out as that Maxell moment? Almost?

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Speaker 1: You know, it might have been on when I'm thinking

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Speaker 1: about early concerts, that I experienced it really like blew

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Speaker 1: me away. I remember seeing the Black Crows at the

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Speaker 1: Orphan in Boston, a pretty small theater for those guys

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Speaker 1: at the time, sure, and they were just they were

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Speaker 1: like they were just larger than life. That band was though,

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Speaker 1: smoking and it was and it was. It had this

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Speaker 1: classic music sound that was rock and roll and heavy

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Speaker 1: and also not taking itself too seriously and it was

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Speaker 1: and they were also doing things that were totally original.

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Speaker 1: The whole thing was like, Oh that is the sound,

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Speaker 1: that is that is thing for me, you know. And

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Speaker 1: I remember that concert pretty vividly as like, Okay, that's

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Speaker 1: that's my kind of rock and roll right there.

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna go back to weird Al for a second

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Speaker 3: because I find it really interesting that he's as big

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Speaker 3: as he was back then. What do you think is

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Speaker 3: the right he's a phenomenal What do you think is

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Speaker 3: the key to an artist, a musician having longevity?

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Speaker 1: I think so one. I mean it for for Al,

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Speaker 1: it's a number of factors, right, super smart songwriter. Right,

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Speaker 1: his stuff has always been like well well done, like

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Speaker 1: thoughtfully put together and and and funny. But he is

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Speaker 1: also really capitalized throughout time throughout his career on the

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Speaker 1: biggest artists that were trending right before, you know, before

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Speaker 1: there was a term trending that that everybody used. He would, right,

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Speaker 1: he would. He was a He was a master at

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Speaker 1: finding that biggest, most right groundbreaking artist and then having

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Speaker 1: fun with it. Right. I mean it's the same right, right,

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Speaker 1: Taylor Swift will come out with an album and there'll

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Speaker 1: be a million there'll be a there'll be a million

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Speaker 1: posts of people singing that one of her songs, right,

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Speaker 1: and there'll be a million people listening to those versions

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Speaker 1: of that. He had it all figured out way ahead

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Speaker 1: of time. But in addition, it's it seems like, and

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Speaker 1: I really you might know more about this than me,

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Speaker 1: but it seems like the way he's gone about it

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Speaker 1: is also super respectful with all of those artists he

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Speaker 1: has always Uh, it sounds like he's a kind of

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Speaker 1: guy that's always kind of gone out of his way

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Speaker 1: to get permission to be respectful, to be guchen on

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Speaker 1: an artist, but not in a way to denigrate the artist,

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Speaker 1: but in a way that somehow celebrates that artist. And

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Speaker 1: right it became almost it almost became a sign that

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Speaker 1: you were a successful artist that weird out did a

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Speaker 1: spoof on one of your songs. Right, he was, He

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Speaker 1: was brilliant. He still is brilliant at that exact time.

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Speaker 3: Very astute analysis, Adam, I really, you know, it's funny

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Speaker 3: how I had to go back to him, But I

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Speaker 3: was thinking about that career of his, and I think

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Speaker 3: you're a you're a student of the business of music.

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Speaker 3: In fact, I don't know if you know this, but

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Speaker 3: your name came up with a previous guest on taking

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Speaker 3: a walk. Who brought you? This guy named John Oates.

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Speaker 1: Oh, my buddy and buddy and a hero of mine.

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Speaker 3: So he he brought you up and as as we

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Speaker 3: did an episode.

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Speaker 1: And isn't he a nice guy?

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Speaker 3: He's a tremendously nice guy. But I think you two

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Speaker 3: have something else in common. He is is a true student.

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Speaker 3: You know of music, you know the history of it,

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Speaker 3: a deep understanding of it, which I believe you also have.

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Speaker 1: Is that o No, no, my my, uh. My knowledge

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Speaker 1: of music and music history pales in comparison to he is. Uh.

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Speaker 1: He is such a student. He is such a brilliant

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Speaker 1: student of music, old styles and and and and and

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Speaker 1: pop styles. Throughout the years. He can play anything. He

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Speaker 1: is incredibly versatile and uh and he just his his

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Speaker 1: wealth of knowledge is inspiring me. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm a guy that never learned how to read music.

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Speaker 1: And I sat down on a on a guitar because

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Speaker 1: and I started writing writing songs because I because they

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Speaker 1: made me feel like me more than anything else in

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Speaker 1: my life. And uh and and that's how it came.

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Speaker 1: I mean, John, I think has spent a lifetime really

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Speaker 1: truly as you described, a student, a student of music

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Speaker 1: and uh and it's one of the reasons why it's

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Speaker 1: so inspiring to get that, to write with him and

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Speaker 1: to work with him.

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Speaker 3: So tell me how that collaboration came about and uh

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Speaker 3: and what it was like, you know, uh working with him?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well you know. H So we for a brief

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Speaker 1: point in time, were managed by the same fellaw uh,

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Speaker 1: a guy named Brian Doyle out of New York. And Uh,

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Speaker 1: I was I had just signed up to work with Brian,

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Speaker 1: and I was just as uh as is still the case,

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Speaker 1: always always writing, always writing songs, always writing songs, and

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Speaker 1: uh and I would share these songs. I would just

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Speaker 1: keep sending me songs, uh to Brian and our management

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Speaker 1: team and uh. And Brian is you know. At one

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Speaker 1: point I was like, you know what, Adam, I got

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Speaker 1: to connect you. You and John are gonna, I think

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Speaker 1: your brothers and you just don't know it yet. And

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Speaker 1: uh and he sent John h he sent John some

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Speaker 1: of my demos that I'd been sending him and uh

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Speaker 1: and John said, yeah, I like I like this music.

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Speaker 1: Why don't we Why don't we bring him down to

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Speaker 1: Nashville medism writing and uh and so, uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: Brian told me that. I said, uh, yeah, I will

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Speaker 1: do you that. I remember going down he met. I

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Speaker 1: had to meet him at this studio called Addiction Sound.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure it still exists, but it was a

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Speaker 1: private studio owned by Jonathan Kane Journey and uh and

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Speaker 1: it was like this beautiful. It was like compared to

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Speaker 1: any studio I've ever been in. It was like a

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Speaker 1: palace to me, right, Like it was just gorgeous. And

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Speaker 1: the whole upstairs was this private apartment with these like

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Speaker 1: practice rooms and spaces. And I remember them. I remember

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Speaker 1: them meeting me at the door and taking my guitar

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Speaker 1: and leading me upstairs and John sitting, you know in

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Speaker 1: one of these rooms. I was I was buzz I

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Speaker 1: was so nervous. I mean, I'm a guy that was

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Speaker 1: you know, I spent my career playing playing bars, you know,

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Speaker 1: and I was just building this band community, one person

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Speaker 1: at a time, and it's been an inspiring, amazing journey.

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Speaker 1: But here I am meeting this rock and roll hall

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Speaker 1: of paymer to write songs. And you know, he stood

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Speaker 1: up right away and he said, Adam's great to meet you.

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Speaker 1: What have you been working on? We sat down that day,

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Speaker 1: we wrote that afternoon, we wrote two songs. And the

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Speaker 1: next day he was so excited. He's like, man, this

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Speaker 1: is great. I'm gonna get some session guys together. Let's

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Speaker 1: do some recording tomorrow. And the next day I met

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Speaker 1: him downstairs in the same studio and these Nashville session players,

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Speaker 1: some of the best around were there, and we just

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Speaker 1: we took you know, we took a couple of the

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Speaker 1: songs we've been working on, and we just recorded right

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Speaker 1: down the spot. It was one other cooler experiences I've

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Speaker 1: ever had as a musician. And in fact, that very

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Speaker 1: first song that we wrote is called All I Am,

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Speaker 1: and John just uh just recorded and produced his own

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Speaker 1: version of that song that he released on his latest album.

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Speaker 1: I'm super super honored by that.

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Speaker 3: And the album is great, you know the great The

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Speaker 3: album is great. I love his treatment of John Prime,

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Speaker 3: you know, which.

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Speaker 1: He is so special and and and and how cool

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Speaker 1: is it, right Buzz that this pop icon in his

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Speaker 1: solo career decides I'm going to dig into roots. I'm

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Speaker 1: going to dig into the roots of the music that

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Speaker 1: made me famous. Right, And that's been his story since

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Speaker 1: the beginning of his right, his his own solo musical releases.

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Speaker 1: He ain't he ain't going for what Strenden, He's going

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Speaker 1: for what, you know, what, what inspired him first as

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Speaker 1: an artist and what created the art form that that

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Speaker 1: made made his success.

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Speaker 3: So who else is on the wish list to collaborate with?

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, I mean, I mean there's so many,

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Speaker 1: I guess you know, uh you know, I mean, I

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Speaker 1: mean it's this. Is this like is this a realistic

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Speaker 1: wish list? Or is this like an edition? Or is

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Speaker 1: this like uh you know? Because right, I would be

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Speaker 1: able to be able to die happy if I could

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Speaker 1: get the room and write a song with Bruce Right

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Speaker 1: or paulse Simon, right, is I mean I would be

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Speaker 1: too intimidated probably to write songs with Paul Simon can

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Speaker 1: see using chords that I don't understand. But but Bruce

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Speaker 1: is a Bruce was a you know, he's he started

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Speaker 1: out as a bar guy like I did. And uh

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Speaker 1: and uh and you know, but I mean these days there,

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Speaker 1: you know, there's so many great artists out there, and uh,

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Speaker 1: that didn't that inspired me? You know, I listen, you

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Speaker 1: had you had one of the Wood Brothers on the

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Speaker 1: other day. I love listening to those I love listening

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Speaker 1: to those guys. I love their son. I love to

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Speaker 1: write song. I mean, I'm basically I write songs. I

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Speaker 1: try to write songs with as many artists as I

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Speaker 1: can along the way, whether they're opening up for us

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Speaker 1: or we're opening up for them. Writing music with other

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Speaker 1: people isn't inspiring them and the song the song doesn't

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Speaker 1: always come out great, but I always feel like I

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Speaker 1: become a better writer. Fortunity.

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Speaker 3: That's awesome. Where did you learn this grassroots approach to

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Speaker 3: building an audience one by one? I'm fascinated by this.

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Speaker 3: I had Actually I haven't put the episode out yet,

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Speaker 3: but by the time this episode hits, it'll have been out.

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Speaker 3: I had Rebecca and Meghan Level from Lark and Poe

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Speaker 3: on and Lark and Poe has built a fan base

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Speaker 3: very similarly. I won almost where did you think of

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Speaker 3: and learn that technique? Because I think it's fascinating.

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Speaker 1: You act like it was intentional buzz. I mean, honestly, right,

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Speaker 1: I was always I was a guy that right that that.

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Speaker 1: I was a guy that was right that that never

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Speaker 1: had a record. I never had somebody with big music

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Speaker 1: connections point their finger at me and say, hey, you're

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Speaker 1: the one. I played in nasty bars because they were

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Speaker 1: the only places that could hire me for many many years.

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Speaker 1: Right that. I wasn't being hired to play concerts. I

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Speaker 1: was hired to keep people drinking and uh and it

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Speaker 1: was I don't regret that at all, because right, one

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Speaker 1: by one, and sometimes it was literally one person at

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Speaker 1: a time turning around and listening to or me and

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Speaker 1: my bandies and connecting with us and that journey because

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Speaker 1: it happened so slow, over time it became it became

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Speaker 1: deeply personal to me. I have the honor of knowing

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Speaker 1: this community of people. They're poem my music. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's getting bigger and bigger. So now right like these days,

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Speaker 1: we will play shows and the vast majority of people

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Speaker 1: like I won't know, but I'll look out and I'll

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Speaker 1: see a lot of faces I recognize. And every one

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Speaker 1: of those people we joke about this from the stage.

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Speaker 1: Every one of those people has an origin story with me.

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Speaker 1: None of it. None of those origin stories came from

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Speaker 1: the radio or a fancy right or a fancy soundtrack.

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Speaker 1: It came from one of their friends, usually dragging them

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Speaker 1: out and saying, hey, you got listening to these guys,

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Speaker 1: And it was. And most of their origin stories are

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Speaker 1: us playing in some weird, weird place a backyard or

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Speaker 1: a parking lot, or a charity event or something that

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Speaker 1: is non traditional. But it was out of necessity buzz

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Speaker 1: because we didn't have any other options. And and now

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Speaker 1: we now that we get to tour around the country,

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Speaker 1: and now that we are playing in inspiring places to

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Speaker 1: play music, inspiring stages and festivals. Is never lost. What

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Speaker 1: a magical gift that is that people want buy a ticket,

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Speaker 1: come and hear me play music. And it is uh

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Speaker 1: and it is an incredible thing. And we do a

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Speaker 1: lot of activism through music, and to that, the community

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Speaker 1: has really engaged with the band and with a ton

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Speaker 1: of different causes at any one of our shows, the

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Speaker 1: fan oftentimes have organized some kind of activism component, and

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Speaker 1: I think all of that, all of that story mushed together,

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Speaker 1: creates this connection, whether it's with their first time person

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Speaker 1: coming out to see us, or a person that sees

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Speaker 1: us fifty times a year, and there are people that

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Speaker 1: see us fifty times a year, and there becomes this

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Speaker 1: sense of community at our shows that certainly inspired me

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Speaker 1: every single time. And you know, like I said, but

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Speaker 1: it wasn't necessarily by design. It's just it's just what

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Speaker 1: happened one show at a time over the years.

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Speaker 3: I think it's wonderful. And I want you to I

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Speaker 3: want you to brag a little bit about some of

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Speaker 3: the work and the good work that you're doing. I

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Speaker 3: know you were a guest with Lynn Hoffman on our

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Speaker 3: Panion podcast Music Save Me, But I want you to

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Speaker 3: brag a little bit about some of your successes and

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Speaker 3: great work that you've done for so many communities.

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Speaker 1: Oh Man, Well, thank you for giving me an opportunity

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Speaker 1: to talk about some of that work. I will I

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Speaker 1: will try to keep it somewhat brief, and I will

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Speaker 1: just mention the reason why this particular week is a

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Speaker 1: really exciting one. Two weeks ago. Three weeks ago, we

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Speaker 1: hosted our own festival for the fifteenth time. There's a

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Speaker 1: fifteenth annually we called the Ramble here in the Northeast,

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Speaker 1: and it is a festival that I started through a

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Speaker 1: nonprofit organization. I began a nonprofit organization called Rally Sound.

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Speaker 1: Every year, Rally Sound hosts this festival. It's essentially a briefest.

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Speaker 1: Anyone can come to this festival. They can donate what

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Speaker 1: ever they want or whatever they can, and the festival

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Speaker 1: has a mission, and the mission is to put an

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Speaker 1: end veteran homelessness in the Northeast. There are some things

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Speaker 1: that are super unique about the festival, and that all

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Speaker 1: the artists that come out to the festival every year,

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Speaker 1: I invite them myself. They all donate their time in

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Speaker 1: their family. The festival is run by an army a volunteer,

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Speaker 1: just people like you, fans that have come together and

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Speaker 1: engaged and decided they want to be a part of this.

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Speaker 1: We had over two hundred volunteers running the Rambo this year.

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Speaker 1: And this tiny little grassroots festival that no one's ever

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Speaker 1: heard of before. This year, we just found out this

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Speaker 1: week we raised one hundred and fifty one thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: for our veterments. We work with an organization called the

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Speaker 1: New England Center and Home for Veterans and through them,

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Speaker 1: and while every case is different, on average, for every

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars we raise, they're able to help one of

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Speaker 1: our vets off the streets and in the safe and

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Speaker 1: dignified housing. So one hundred and fifty one veterans we help.

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Speaker 1: The homeless population for veterans in New England hover somewhere

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Speaker 1: between one thousand and fifteen hundred these days, and so

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Speaker 1: this underground little movement is impacting right a significant It's

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Speaker 1: having a significant impact on those numbers these days. It's

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Speaker 1: something that I am so so grateful that I get

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Speaker 1: to be just a little part of it. All it

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Speaker 1: is is a humbling thing to get to experience.

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Speaker 3: A congratulations, My God, that's amazing, that's so wonderful.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate that. I appreciate it.

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Speaker 3: In closing, Adam, I mean, in a time where there's

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Speaker 3: you know, everything is so crazy and divided, and there's

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Speaker 3: so much tension in the world and in the country,

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Speaker 3: how does it make you feel thinking about how you

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Speaker 3: your work, your community all in and around. Music is

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Speaker 3: such a unifying force in a divided time. How does

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Speaker 3: it make you feel?

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Speaker 1: Oh, man, I mean you're hitting on you're hidden on

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Speaker 1: the core, the hitting on the core of everything. With

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Speaker 1: that question, for me, I feel that I feel that

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Speaker 1: same thing, buzz. I think we all do. And and

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Speaker 1: it also know if you feel this too, But it

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Speaker 1: just feels like the vastness of the reach of the

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Speaker 1: loudest voices, it has away the twenty four hour news cycle,

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Speaker 1: the social media feeds. They have this way of making

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Speaker 1: me at least feel a little just as a person,

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Speaker 1: as a regular person, making me feel we see so

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Speaker 1: much of the worst of humanity shown to us every day,

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Speaker 1: twenty four hours a day. We can see it all

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Speaker 1: right there. It's boom, it's right there. It's hitting us

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Speaker 1: in the face every day that it's like getting pummeable

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Speaker 1: a little bit every single day. I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: at least it feels that way to me. And it's

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Speaker 1: not all bad, it's not a negative, but it's man,

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Speaker 1: it is hard to feel to feel impactful in this world.

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Speaker 1: But you know, I believe that the most important impact

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Speaker 1: that we can have is the kind of impact that

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Speaker 1: happens to one person at a time, and the kind

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Speaker 1: of impact that reminds us that there's more about us

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Speaker 1: that is the same, then it's different. And music has

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Speaker 1: always done that to me. It's always it's always communicated

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Speaker 1: the experience of being human in a way that right,

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Speaker 1: I can go to a show and I can feel this,

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Speaker 1: whatever I am feeling from a song, I can know

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Speaker 1: that everybody else or most people there are feeling it

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Speaker 1: on some level. The reminder that we're connected and uh,

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Speaker 1: and the fact that I get to I get to

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Speaker 1: be a small part of that process. I think it's

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Speaker 1: it's mine. It's my life's work and uh, and it's

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Speaker 1: uh and it's my life's honor to get to do it.

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Speaker 1: And so uh it feels to answer your question real simply,

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Speaker 1: it feels real good, buzz. It feels. It feels real

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Speaker 1: good to be doing what we're doing these days, even

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Speaker 1: as a even as an underground indie indie band. Uh.

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Speaker 1: Getting to throw these punches and impact people one person

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Speaker 1: at a time, it's it's a work. It's it's work

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Speaker 1: that fills me up.

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Speaker 2: Well.

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Speaker 3: I'm so grateful to be able to talk to folks

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Speaker 3: like you, to meet new friends like you and to

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Speaker 3: you know, hopefully shine a little light on not only

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Speaker 3: your great music, but your great heart and soul. So

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Speaker 3: for all of that, we thank you.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Buzz, thank you for wanting to spread these

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Speaker 1: stories out there. I think I think podcasts like this

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Speaker 1: to talk about real stuff with artists that are trying

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Speaker 1: to create things in the world. I think they're important

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Speaker 1: and I'm really glad you're out there.

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Speaker 3: Doing I'm stand thanks, Adam, appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, cheers.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a

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Speaker 2: Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends

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00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,920
Speaker 2: and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking

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Speaker 2: a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 2: and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: E