Wherever You Are releases from DPR Entertainment/High Wire Music on September 16th. Produced by Will Hoffman (Flyleaf, Dizmas, Spiderman 3 Soundtrack) and Dwight Baker (Podunk, Steamroller, Lennex) Wherever You Are is a wide-ranging project that mixes fresh song-writing with some classic but eclectic 70s rock vibes.
The result? A dozen unique, evocative rock tracks that succeed not just via their driving beats but also by way of poetic lyrics and faith-infused perspective.
The Adam McInnisStory
Adam McInnis came to his distinctive perspective honestly. Born in Manhattan, McInnis grew up in a spiritually and culturally rich environment. His Black Scottish and American Indian father was a bold gospel evangelist and his Russian mother a classically trained folk and opera singer.
As a child, his parents exposed him to international artists and gospel churches, and he spent his youth in the Big Apple during one of its major music renaissances. "There aren't many singer-songwriters who can say they were born into such a hip-hop environment," he explains. "I'm a mixture of cultures from a big city where I saw big things happen."
McInnis lost his father at age 15, and that shock and its impact on his family life led into a season of spiritual doubts and rebellion, until he rekindled his faith at age 20. "On the surface, I was achieving the things that I had dreamed about when I was young, but I felt completely hollow. I remember sitting in my apartment one night, thinking about my father and the things he used to say when I was young, and I just fell into prayer. I invited Jesus into my life and asked for something that was real and truly fulfilling."
Recommitted: Adam McInnis' Music
Recommitted and refocused, McInnis’ musical gifts led him into the national spotlight, thanks to Joe Simpson's songwriting competition Score. He also beat out 30,000 other artists to join the 11-person ensemble The One: Making of a Music Star.
These experiences and others eventually funneled into an indie EP, but this year found McInnis finally ready to lay his soul bare in Wherever You Are, a full-length debut that holds nothing back, emotionally, spiritually or creatively. “When you honestly put all of your emotions and feelings and experiences into the songs, it becomes something real," says McInnis.
"Wherever You Are" : Track by Track
The title track opens Wherever You Are, a spiritual love song that features McInnis’ breathy vocal and slow burning rock changes. Its theme of hope and encouragement runs like a mighty river throughout the album. "A lot of what comes through is hope," explains McInnis, who mastered his storytelling style as a script writing major in college. "I talk about real life with all its ups and downs, but I believe new doors will open if you have hope."
But it’s the simmering second track that really grabs you by the throat. Opening with lovely piano trills, “Beautiful Glow” is as luminous as its title implies. Adam McInnis just about channels Steve Winwood, a Hammond B3 quietly simmering beneath his sharp guitar riffs on this “John Barleycorn”-like song, before a mid-track move into an energetic guitar-driven chorus that zings.
It’s his raspy vocal that stands out on the soulful “Give A Little,” strongly reminiscent of Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale. Sizzling guitar riffs make this another standout track, competing with attention for the organ all through the track.
Rocker “Take These Wings” is probably fun to see live, but the song of encouragement loses a little of its momentum here. “Fall Into Me” is McInnis’ first song written as a solo artist; it’s gentle acoustic opening moves into electric distortions as the track progresses. The movements of poetic ballad “Since I Spoke Your Name” are equally dramatic, as is its topic, the changes in McInnis’ life since his salvation.
Written for the troops, “Say A Little Prayer” is both soulful and articulate, while “Too Much Beauty,” written in honor of his mother, is delivered with sensitivity and pathos over rolling piano chords. Another evocative track, “Forever Love,” is written from the interesting perspective of a love song from his father in heaven to his mother.
McInnis closes with a bold club track, ”I’m The One,” thick with repetitive techno-riffs and dance beats. It tends to lose energy as it progresses, but the innovative attempt is just one of many things the listener will admire about Adam McInnis’ “Wherever You Are.”
Kevan Breitinger - My journey to this opportunity has been an interesting one. I've always been a rabid music-lover, tending to experience all things through ...
