Adam’s World Weekly 5/25

This past Saturday I ventured into the city for something that has become a bit uncharacteristic for me in my 40s – a late starting show.

Kelli Baker, who I interviewed recently, was performing at The Bitter End, but the start time was 10pm.

Her publicist, who is a friend of mine, and I each had 90 minute commutes to make it to the show, and we played a bit of a game of chicken, going back and forth over email, each basically saying, “Are you gonna go? Cuz I’ll go if you’ll go.” We ultimately decided not only to go, but to meet up beforehand to grab drinks, and watch the Knicks game.

Everything went really well with both the game (go Knicks!), and Kelli, who sounded AMAZING. She has such a huge blues voice, and had everyone’s attention at all times.

Totally worth having to take the 12:07am train home.

Of course, every night that includes The Bitter End begins for me with a trip to Generation Records to dig through used vinyl. This time I brought home three records, of which I have zero knowledge.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to them yet, but my reasoning for picking them was totally different for each.

When I saw the Meri D. Marshall album cover I thought, “Gotta be an ‘80s album,” which it is, and I’m always down to find a hidden ‘80s gem. Fingers crossed My Obsession winds up something worth obsessing over!

The Different Strokes compilation has a track listing that includes Laura Nyro, and Miles Davis, so I thought it might have some potential to be a future Classic Compilations column.

The Essentials was a total puzzle when I picked it up, because even with a quick Google search (which isn’t easy in the lower level of the store) I couldn’t find out much of anything about them. The record label, however, looked very indie, and was from upstate New York. Just as I was teetering on whether or not to pick it up, my decision was made for me by something that came out of the sleeve, well, two somethings – the original press release from 1990, and a photocopy of a press clipping!

I am such a sucker for those sorts of things. I view them as really fun pieces of music history, and while they have no dollar value, at least that I’m aware, I love the rare times when I find them.

Speaking of words on paper, a quick update on my One Hit Wondering book – My copy editor send me her notes last week, and I made all the necessary changes, so we are one giant step closer to One Hit Wondering being in everyone’s hands. Up next in the process is uploading everything, ordering a preview copy to make sure it all looks good, and then releasing it to the world.

Moving to words on a screen, in blog news, this week’s articles are led off by a conversation with longtime friend Maggie Miles. I first met Maggie back in 2020, pre-pandemic, and have had the pleasure of watching her grow as an artist over the past half dozen years. She released a new single this past week titled “Panacea,” and she sat down with me to discuss the song, and some of the music industry related issues that inspired it.

In addition to that interview, I also have fresh editions of Pop Shots, and my weekly NYC Scene Report for you to check out.

Read the full interview here

Read the full column here

Read the full column here

As always, thanks for reading, and have a fantastic week.

– Adam Bernard