Artist Information
Biography
***2010 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival "Emerging Artist Showcase" Performer***
***2008 Great Waters Folk Festival Songwriting Competition Finalist***
"Mia Adams' soulful heart and earthy groove infuse her singing and make everyone who hears her feel a little less lonely each time she takes the stage."
– Tom Kimmel
In the musical tradition of Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt or Maura O’Connell, Mia Adams has a knack for choosing “undiscovered covers” written by top-notch songwriters. A passionate fan of passionate music, she sleuths for songs at picking parties, songwriter circles, folk festivals, jazz clubs and rock concerts and makes them her own with her silky, earnest alto. Lately, she's begun to pepper in a few of her own tunes as well. As a lark, she submitted her own compositions to the Jim Beam Country Band Search Contest in 2001. Winning the live competition to a packed house at The Wildhorse Saloon was a happy surprise as her music is more “funky folk pop” than country, but it does go to show that she can put across a tune. Her cover of Dana Cooper’s “Standing in My Own Way” was featured in Lifetime Television’s “Marriage Material”.
After graduating Bennington College in her native Vermont, this songbird packed her bags and migrated south to Nashville. Learning the ropes as a backup singer, Adams has performed live and/or recorded vocals with Norah Jones, Richard Julian, Amos Lee, Ellis Paul, Tom Kimmel, Adrienne Young, Buddy Mondlock, Dana Cooper, Michael Lille, Greta Gaines, David Halley, Scott Christopher Murray, Sam Bisbee, Patrick Fitzsimmons and Toni Catlin. Recently she had the pleasure of performing on The Today Show singing backup for Norah Jones, on Mountain Stage with Richard Julian broadcast nationally on NPR and being featured on her own on The Songwriter Sessions on Nashville Public Radio. At Burlington’s Higher Ground, she's opened for Vusi Mahlasela, Ellis Paul and one of her personal musical heroes,Maia Sharp. She also recently opened for Buddy Mondlock. She recently performed In The Round at The Bluebird Cafe's tent at the first ever Country Throwdown tour and at Falconridge Folk Festival 2010 in the Emerging Songwriters Showcase. A regular for Burlington's First Night Celebration, she hosts her own In The Round Songwriter series at On The Rise in Richmond, VT featuring some of Vermont's finest.
Mia grew up on a mixed musical diet of New England folk (Cheryl Wheeler, Carly Simon), 70’s disco & rock (Stevie Wonder, Elton John) and 80’s pop (Prince,The GoGo’s, Marshall Crenshaw). A true “renaissance gal”, Mia is an accomplished actress as well. "Song of Fishes" a short film is currently being shown nationally and she wraps "Tick Tock Time Machine" this July. She has been featured in videos for Suzi Ragsdale and Buddy Mondlock’s music on European MTV and made a cameo in Norah Jones’ “Sunrise” and has appeared on TNN, CMT, CBS, PBS, and PAX TV. Her dream role would be to portray the life of a singer a la Sissy Spacek or Jessica Lange. She is currently developing a one-woman show to showcase her talents. “ My acting background affects the material I choose,” she says, “Most of it is very emotionally driven either through the story or the melody. I find myself gravitating towards songs that are almost like monologues…an infectious groove will also get me every time.” She counts Sam Phillips, Patty Griffin, Eliza Gilkyson, Aimee Mann, Jonatha Brooke, Shawn Colvin and Natalie Merchant on her short list of contemporary influences.
Also a percussionist on occasion, anything from brushes on an upside down Crystal water container to Fischer Price Toys has been turned into a beat keeper in her hands. “So far no drummer’s taken a shaker out of my hands, and I usually get approving nods….”, she says, “I play self taught auxiliary percussion with professional instruments mixed with odd noisy stuff I find at yard sales.”
Currently, Adams is pulling resources to record her first album’s worth of material.
Instrumentation
Mia Adams - Vocals and Auxilliary Percussion
Guitar - various performers including David Rynhart, D. Davis, Elden Kelly...
What ever fabulous musician I can grab at the time.
Discography
Visit myspace.com/MiaAdamsAndTheScenicRoots for streaming airplay.
And I am pulling resources to record my first album. I can also make a copy of my demo on request.
Links
Video
Press
Setlist
I have 3+ hours worth of material. Included in that are some of my own originals"
Million To One
Based On A True Story
Call it A Day
Right at Home
but mostly I do other artists songs that are so deep in the singer/songwriter pocket that most of the public is not familiar with them. I also do jazz sets and a children's show..
My reperatiore is not unlike the song list that Maura O'Connell picks. I'll put it to you this way...I fell in love with Jesse Harris's One Flight Down BEFORE Norah Jones covered it.
