IN THE WIND WITH DOUG ADAMZ
Monday 8-10pm Friday 10p-12a rebroadcast
Doug is featured in our July/August 2020 KTAL Chronicles newsletter! As a career musician, Doug brings his love of music to our listeners! Here is Doug's bio
I was raised in El Paso, Texas. At age nine, 1960, my mom dropped me off at the Trinity Methodist boys choir rehearsal. That was the beginning of my life in music. I played trombone in high school until I got my hands on a guitar. Then I dropped out of marching band and joined a rock and roll band. When that group broke up I continued folk and solo. I majored in classical guitar at UTEP and played in more rock ensembles (Kite & Wailing Wall) in the early 70’s. We played at illegal gatherings of hippies on the levee and warmed up for headliners at The PanAm Center in Las Cruces. Upon graduation I packed my fiddle, guitar, a bag of harmonicas and a box of granola into my VW Van and drove to San Francisco, a city in which I knew not a single soul.
In San Francisco, I played violin on the streets at Fisherman’s Wharf, accompanying a belly dancer. She and I produced a record of the music I wrote for her called Dream Dancer by Light Rain. We soon started receiving orders for that album from around the world through our post office box, and then a letter from The Joffrey Ballet saying that they wanted to use the music, which they did: Light Rain by The Joffrey Ballet. For the first sequel album (Dream Suite) I wrote charts for The Kronos Quartet, after which they commissioned me to write some pieces for them. The third sequel was Valentine to Eden. Around 1980 I started playing Americana music in every imaginable venue the Bay Area had to offer, as well as Nevada Casinos and Asian tours for U.S. troops. I opened for super-stars and played at gatherings for all manner of dignitaries and celebrities, including President Bush. During the time when I was hired to play for Bush, I was also performing at rallies against his war on Iraq: writing and recording protest songs and singing them on community radio stations. I was disappointed those activities didn’t show up in the radar of their background checks on me. My fourth album of Arabic themed music, Dark Fire, came out in the early 90’s. The next three albums were all solo: just me and a guitar. During all this time I was doing session work and playing as a sideman for other artists. Throughout my long sojourn in California (known as “my life”) I knew that, at some point, I would want to return to the desert for an extended time. The time turned out to be the winter of 2017, and within the first few nights of being in Las Cruces, I discovered KTAL: a brand new station. I’d long been a listener to and consumer of, community radio, and often fantasized about hosting a show. The timing was perfect, so now you can find me here at KTAL, “In The Wind”. |
Doug has recorded five albums of original, instrumental music and three albums of his songs. His compositions have been used by The Joffrey and other ballet companies (Santa Fe/Aspen, Oklahoma City, San Francisco), featured in a film by Robert Altman (The Company), heard in a PBS documentary soundtrack (Jim Thorpe, World's Greatest Athlete) and in two Spanish television series (La Frontera Herida, Sahel). The Kronos Quartet commissioned Doug to write several short pieces and Stevie Coyle (The Waybacks) and Dr. Elmo (Grandma--Reindeer) have recorded and released some of Doug’s songs on their albums. He’s performed with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Joan Baez, and many finger-style luminaries like Stevie Coyle and Doug Young, played (informally) with Maria Muldaur, and Jim Messina, recorded with Peter Rowan and Huey Lewis and opened for many stars including Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jesse Colin Young, Leo Kotke, David Lindley, Dottie West, The Chambers Brothers, Steppenwolf, Johnny Rivers and Johnny Lee. His 1973 degree in music is from the University of Texas at El Paso, with a major in guitar.
The photo in the header (at the top of the page) shows Doug leading the musicians in the Roadrunner Revue finale. Doug not only performed and supported many of the other performers, but he organized the musical portion of our event and created the artwork for the posters, flyers and cover of the program!
The musicians in the photo are, from left to right: Rob McCorkle, C. W. Ayon (hidden), Gene Keller, Doug Adamz, Mark Mathias, Teresa Tudury, and Chris Sanders. Top photo by Robert Yee (https://robertyeeproductions.com/).
The photo in the header (at the top of the page) shows Doug leading the musicians in the Roadrunner Revue finale. Doug not only performed and supported many of the other performers, but he organized the musical portion of our event and created the artwork for the posters, flyers and cover of the program!
The musicians in the photo are, from left to right: Rob McCorkle, C. W. Ayon (hidden), Gene Keller, Doug Adamz, Mark Mathias, Teresa Tudury, and Chris Sanders. Top photo by Robert Yee (https://robertyeeproductions.com/).