Adam Sweet delivers brooding blues and rootsy rock, balancing richly detailed song writing
with soulful vocals and expertly piercing guitar work.
Taking his cue from the British blues boom sounds and rock ri
ff
s of the 60s and 70s, the
independent blues-rock guitarist and singer-songwriter has carved out his own territory
between classic rock, blues and Americana. Since
first taking to the live scene in the South
West of England at the age of 15 he has worked in various guises: solo acoustic, session
player and with his own bands. The result is a consummate ability to switch from sensitive
singer-songwriter to full-on blues rocker with ease, as demonstrated in his countless live
performances and his output as a recording artist.
Sonically, Adam is a guitar-slidin' force of nature whose songs can
fi
ll a hall with their effortless verve. Ranging from quietly desperate blues tunes to careening full-
tilt rock, his
approach is a testament to the idea that less can, in fact, be considerably more. A young
bluesman with an ancient soul and a large presence in the here-and-now.
Adam picked up a guitar aged seven but his interest was only smouldering for the
first few
years. A spell studying classical guitar failed to provide the spark of inspiration he needed but
things began to change when he started private tui
ti
on with Adrian John Loveridge, a veteran
of the 1980’s Californian music scene who had just moved back to his hometown of Lyme
Regis, Dorset. Guitar lessons suddenly got much cooler with tales of life as an LA session
musician and Adrian’s gold record gleaming on the wall. The breakthrough came when Adam’s
new mentor took him to see blues-rock band The Hamsters at Lyme’s Marine Theatre. Adam
le
ft
with Jimi Hendrix ri
ff
s ringing in his ears and was soon playing regularly on the local circuit
recreating the music of his newfound guitar heroes.
In the years that followed Adam performed countless gigs in numerous bands where he
honed his craft
and found his voice before embarking on a solo career...
His acclaimed debut album
‘Small Town Thinking’
, recorded both in Devon and Nashville,
was released at the start of 2014. The album steadily gathered approval with
Adam’s
“
timeless”
gift
earning him rave reviews including a full
5-star rating and Album of
the Month
award in Guitar Techniques Magazine, praising the album for offering a
“whole
new perspective on the (blues) genre”.
Adam’s 2017 EP
‘Take Your Time’
was a stripped back acoustic offering that perfectly captured
the essence of his renowned one-man shows.
It was produced and performed solely by Adam
and featured a track written with founder member of Level 42
Boon Gould
. Tracks from this
release featured heavily on
BBC Introducing
and received several accolades -
“Wonderful
rock, blues and roots guitar and very classy arrangements”
(Album of the Week, Laurel
Canyon Music).
In 2020 Adam marked his evolution into a fully-
fledged blues-rock artist with the release of his
second full studio album
‘Sink or Swim’
, cementing his unique blend of blue-eyed blues and
soulful southern rock. Adam’s sound developed from working closely with band members
Ian
Jennings
on bass (Je
ff
Beck, Robert Plant, Ronnie Wood, Mick Fleetwood) and
Garry Kroll
on
drums (Mark Ronson, Joss Stone, Sandi Thom). Recorded with producer
Josiah J Manning
(Kris Barras Band) at
Momentum Studios, Plymouth
, the album captured the energy of the
band whilst always serving the richly detailed song writing. ‘Sink or Swim’ received extensive
radio play spending two months in the
Independent Blues Broadcasters Association Top 40
chart and was listed in the
Top 3 Breakthrough Albums of 2020
by
‘Get Ready To ROCK’
and
included in the
Best Americana Albums of 2020
by Dutch blogger
‘Slim Chance’
.
In
July 2021
Adam released the single ‘
Dead Flowers
’ – this cover of the Rolling Stones
country-rock classic became a
fi
rm favourite during the lockdown livestreams Adam was
broadcasting from home during the pandemic. By popular request he recorded the song,
which also marked 50 years since the release of the original. It stays true to Adam’s acoustic
lockdown version, with his band providing the rhythm sec
ti
on plus vocal harmonies by
Alex
Hart
. The track was recorded, produced and mixed by Adam at home whilst he and his band
waited to get back out on the road.
A
ft
er the lockdown Adam focused on what he missed most during the enforced down
ti
me -
playing live with his band! With the addition of his old friend
Paddy Blight
(The Hoosiers,
Andy Timmons, Wildwood Kin) on bass and new recruit
Thomas Hughes
(Nektar, Eddie Floyd,
Geno Washington, Danny Bryant, The Selecter) on the organ, the rejuvenated
Adam Sweet
Band
have been rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the
tightest units on the circuit. In
2023
they were
crowned Introducing Stage winners at The Great British Rock and Blues Festival
and have continued to build on this with triumphant performances at venues and festivals
across the UK, including
Sidmouth & Rye International Jazz & Blues Festivals,
Jazz Jurassica
,
multiple shows at
Exeter Phoenix
and supports for the likes of Wishbone Ash, Kris Barras
Band and Elles Bailey.
In
February 2024
the band released a
limited edition EP ‘Live at Crescent Records’
featuring
some of the favourite cover songs from their live repertoire. Recorded and
filmed live in one
day in the stunning Wiltshire studio, the session captured the magic of the band's onstage
chemistry with the accompanying series of YouTube videos clocking up over 80,000 views in
the
first few months of release. They’ve continued to perform across the UK in 2024 including
debut performances at the
Brudenell Social Club
in Leeds,
London's iconic 100 Club
and a
headline slot at the Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in Colne.
Event Information
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