Adam Zwig

Adam Zwig, Visions of the Shimmering Night
August 30, 2013
By Skope

With a revolutionary approach, insightful and approachable Folk-Pop sentiment and stars in his eyes; singer/songwriter (and psychotherapist) Adam Zwig has perhaps one of the most unique approaches to music within the music body collective. Leaning on topics of interconnectedness, universality and healing, his tracks transcend typical contemporary lyrical matter. His latest offering is still in the vein of “musical healing” with Visions of the Shimmering Night—12-tracks of emotive, hopeful lyrical topics that seek to continue his work as “Rock & Roll Therapist” slowly attempting to mend the human condition one insightful track at a time.

“Everybody Love”
http://youtu.be/_b5n-mny1lM

“Everybody Love” is the first album single and has garnered praise from critics, TV programs and radio stations alike. Opening to bent note electric, this down tempo track lays a foundation for the album. The demure backing musicality complements Zwig’s soothing, calm vocals. The melody is simple and straightforward with slight instrumentation of percussion and guitar work, which draws the listener to the ever-important message of the chorus: “everybody love.” The universality of such a simple message tends to get lost on the daily grind of life and Zwig’s attempt is to bring us back to a state of awareness of this most basic of premises. “Waiting For Heaven” opens with strum guitar work and vocal composition with the lyrics again casting Zwig in deep contemplation. Steel and piano make cameos on this one while the musicality is led by backing percussion and the ever-present guitar, keeping within the folksy ethos of Zwig’s songwriting. Opening with piano melody, “Can’t Afford to Fall” builds through the opening verse with instrumentation gradually joining. The dramatic vocal delivery adds to the eerie vein of the track but the hopeful lyrics shine through with more introspective matter. The midpoint instrumental segment features a Blues note guitar-led melody alongside weepy backing strings as the piano vein runs through the piece until it crescendos to an orchestral outro.

The approach of “singer/songwriter as healer” is one I haven’t come across in my years in the industry and what that approach conveys to the music is quite refreshing, organic and honest. His unabashed dedication to “helping” listeners, with music as catharsis, is also noteworthy amongst other artists of the genre. This is a good story to come out of the music industry and one that we could probably use more of. Selfless, honest and positive in its nature and execution; give me more of this any day.

http://www.adamzwig.com

by Chris West – cwestlaz@gmail.com

I give this 4/5 Skopes - Skope Magazine

Adam Zwig's latest Folk-Pop musical work, Visions of the Shimmering Night (July 4) offers rich, mind-expanding inspiration to a world in deep spiritual need. The singer, songwriter and "rock & roll therapist" transcends modern boundaries by dedicating his life and art to restoring those important connections. His newly released music video for "Everybody Love", the first single of the record, sends an inspirational message about the basic human connection and embraces diversity - something much needed in today's world. Watch the video below!

Visions of the Shimmering Night features a trippy and cosmic instrumental interlude (the title track) and 10 original vocal tunes that range from the spiritually provocative to hopeful and reflective and freedom seeking. The project was produced by Grammy Award winner Stuart Sikes (Loretta Lynn, The White Stripes, Modest Mouse) and Grammy winner David Bianco (Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, U2, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash). Always thinking ahead, Zwig has already completed a follow-up full length recording, set for release in 2014.

Acclaimed for his insightful folk-pop songs and dynamic performances throughout the U.S. and around the globe, the multi-talented performer's groundbreaking work as a psychotherapist goes hand in hand with, and is an extension of, his deep musical aesthetic. Because his concerts and workshops convey the very same messages, the Portland, Oregon based Zwig--who has been favorably compared throughout his career to Bob Dylan and Neil Young--was once dubbed by Seattle Musician as a "rock and roll guru" and "professor of rockology." Committed to lighting the divine spark in his patients and fans, Zwig sees the seamless blend of his music and therapy as reflections of his mission as a "psycho spiritual pyromaniac."


Read more about VIDEO: Adam Zwig's 'Everybody Love' Music Video - BWWMusicWorld by www.broadwayworld.com

Indie rock fans have been aware of Zwig for a number of years, starting with his four year stint as songwriter and lead guitarist with the popular commercial rock band Shapeshifter, which toured the U.S., produced an award winning video, released four albums on Pinch Hit Records and scored the national hit single "My Enemy," at one point the most downloaded song on Napster. He's toured the U.S., Europe and Japan; recorded and co-produced a total of nine albums; has had his songs featured on shows on Fox Sports, Fuel TV, NBC and has been featured in many national media outlets, including CNBC, MSNBC, ABC,CBS, Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, Gibson and many music publications.

On the therapy side, Zwig has published thirty personal development articles; is an internationally renowned workshop leader and lecturer and the founder and director of Portland Health Services, a low income therapy clinic. Zwig has worked with thousands of people in workshops and private practice. His new book, "Flowers In The Dog S***: Solving Your Problems By Discovering Their Messages," is a testament to the creative way his worlds overlap into a seamless flow of positive, thought provoking energy. While the modern world may seek to split Zwig's important work as a therapist from his career as a musician, both are equal passions, complementary facets of his vision as a human being that accomplish exciting, life changing breakthroughs for all who have ears to hear.

For more, visit www.adamzwig.com.
- BWW Music World

Adam Zwig - Musical Healer
Portland : OR : USA | Jul 07, 2013 at 10:59 PM PDT

Independent folk pop artist celebrated his Independence Day by releasing his fifth album "Visions of a Shimmering Night". "Visions" features 12 original compositions by Zwig.

The musician, who has been compared to folk legends Bob Dylan and Neil Young, sees himself as a modern day renaissance man or shaman and a healer who uses his music to send spiritual healing to the world.

The first single from the album is "Everybody Love" - a song that embraces diversity and human connection.

Zwig was the songwriter and lead guitar player for Shapeshifter prior to embarking on a solo career.

More than just a musician, the Portland, Oregon resident is also a doctor of psychology. He has led workshops around the world and founded a non-profit clinic in Portland. Dr. Zwig doesn't treat his patients with drugs but with the sound of music and lyrics.

Starting in August, Zwig will embark on a tour of the US:
Aug. 6 at the Soho Music Club in Santa Barbara, CA
Aug. 7 at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, CA
Aug. 11 at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco, CA
Aug. 14 at the Kilby Court in Salt Lake City, UT
Aug. 15 at The Walnut Room in Denver, CO
Aug. 18 at the Saxon Pub in Austin, TX
Aug. 19 at the Dosie doe Music Cafe in Houston, TX
Aug. 20 at The Kessler Theatre in Dallas, TX
Aug. 21 at The Blue Door in Oklahoma City, OK
Aug. 23 at the Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines, IA
Aug. 26 at the Shank Hall in Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 27 at Schuba's in Chicago, IL
Aug. 28 at the Rumba Cafe in Columbus, OH
Aug. 31 at the Club Cafe in Pittsubrgh, PA
Sept. 3 at Club Passim in Boston, MA
Sept. 4 at the Cafe Nine in New Haven, CT
Sept. 6 at The Bitter End in New York City, NY
Sept. 8 at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 10 at the Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA
Sept. 12 at The Altamont Theatre in Asheville, NC
Sept 13 at the Evening Muse in Charlotte, NC
Sept. 14 at the Casbah in Durham, NC
Sept. 15 at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA

Sherrill Fulghum is based in Niagara Falls, New York, United States of America, and is an Anchor for Allvoices. - All Voices

ROCKWiRED RADiO PROFiLES
PRESENTS AN EXCLUSiVE iNTERViEW WiTH
SiNGER-SONGWRiTER
ADAM ZWiG
AND CUTS FROM HiS NEW ALBUM
ViSiONS OF THE SHiMMERiNG NiGHT
Bad news makes the world go round but good news can bring it to a stop - at least for a few minutes. In an age where rock music is cranking up the amps and shouting about inner turmoil and - in rare instances - social commentary, along comes ADAM ZWIG to turn the volume down and let's love rule. On his latest album VISIONS OF THE SHIMMERING NIGHT, ZWIG's plaintive folk pop sound swoons and stirs and at times electrifies - something that the genre hasn't been able to do since JAMES TAYLOR'S 'SWEET BABY JAMES'. The stand out moments here are the songs WAITING ON HEAVEN (TO MAKE A MOVE) and the single EVERYBODY LOVE which is accompanied by an acclaimed music video.

CHECK OUT THE ViDEO FOR 'EVERYBODY LOVE'!!! - Rock Wired Radio Profiles

Adam Zwig
Visions of the Shimmering Night
Conscious Records Music, 2013

Adam Zwig performs breezy indie-folk which will make you feel familiar and at ease. These acoustic harmonies come ready made for adam-zwig-CVR-300x200consumption and your audio indulgence.

It would be disengenuous to dismiss Zwig out of hand as a musical mimic or someone deeply imitating a inspiration, but to simply acknowledge, Zwig is pop smart and isn’t going to dismiss a catchy hook out of hand.

Because it’s folk there will automatically be Dylan and Neal Young references, but Dylan has passed fifty years performing, it’s a long shadow to avoid for anyone holding an acoustic gutar and telling a story. This said, “Many Worlds” opens with a glassy and sparkling guitar part, and with a sweeping colours Zwig paints a long journey into the ether.

“I Remember You” is about an honest reflection of a low as one could ever expect to hear admitted, “In my darkest hour of need/all good is forgotten.” His voice bears a frustrated wariness.

“I Shall Be” is an optimistic refrain of impending good fortune due to arrive at any moment. This isn’t wishful thinking. This is a promise from the one person capable of making it all happen.

“Waiting on Heaven (to Make Your Move)” feels profoundly humane as Zwig attempts to make sense of time when your forced to wait. This ought to be all over radio immediately. This is the sort of rock-steady, sensible pop which never goes out of style, ever.

Ultimately there’s a hopeful quality to Adam Zwig’s music. Upbeat and sunny, lighthearted, he doesn’t have time for trite and tiresome negativity. Not today, not tomorrow. Not this guy.

www.adamzwig.com
- Sonic Eclectic

Adam Zwig Visions Of The Shimmering Night CD Review

By James McQuiston
September 3, 2013 Features, Music Reviews


Adam Zwig is a musician that has been putting in work for a number of years; Visions Of The Shimmering Night is his fifth album, and was produced by Stuart Sikes (Modest Mouse) and David Bianco (Tom Petty). Everybody Love is a tremendous opening effort for Zwig. During this introductory track, Adam is able to provide listeners with directions for where he’ll ultimately go on the album. These thematic touches allow for an album experience that is much more cohesive than anything else that we have had the chance to hear this year.

Waiting on Heaven (To Make a Move) touches upon a Warren Zevon meets Tom Petty feel, replete with emotive guitars, splashy drums, and an overall instrumentation that punctuates Zwig’s inimitable vocals. When All the World Was in Love slows things down, creating a wistful experience with a slower tempo and an overall sound that is well-versed in sixties rock. The production of When All the World Was in Love (and Visions generally) allows both vocal and instrumental sides to shine; the dichotomy that is created here ends up reaping considerable dividends.

Visions Of The Shimmering Night is an album that continues to stay strong, even as Zwig begins to close up shop. The reprise of When All the World Was in Love I Shall Be provides a fitting ending to this fulfilling album. While Zwig is looking back into the early registers of the album with this cut, he continues to innovate and sneak exciting twists and turns in. Visions of the Shimmering Night is an album that stands up to repeated listening; make a journey over to Zwig’s store (www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AdamZwig ) to purchase a copy of his latest. Check out his new video for Everybody Love at http://bit.ly/12IZDsU .

Top Tracks: Waiting On Heaven (To Make A Move), Visions of the Shimmering Night

Rating: 8.6/10

Adam Zwig Visions Of The Shimmering Night CD Review / 2013 Self / 12 Tracks / www.adamzwig.com/

Read more: http://neufutur.com/2013/09/adam-zwig-visions-shimmering-night-cd-review/#ixzz2joIX7YW6
- NeuFutur Magazine

Adam Zwig Explores the Unknown

September 10, 2013
By jrivera

Travel to the Unknown:
Interview with Adam Zwig

Adam Zwig performs breezy indie-folk which will make you feel familiar and at ease. These are stark and subtle acoustic harmonies with deeply personal narratives. The songs are pop smart and catchy, and Zwig uses the many colors available to him to paint broad adam zwig CVRbrilliant portraits with his guitar. Ultimately there’s a hopeful quality to Adam Zwig’s music. Upbeat and sunny, lighthearted, he doesn’t have time for trite and tiresome negativity.

Currently on tour supporting his latest release, “Visions of the Shimmering Night,” (Conscious Records Music,) Adam was good enough to catch up with us and share his thoughts on touring, reflect on his time busking in Europe, and music as a means of personal growth.



M. Alberto Rivera: How is the tour going so far? Adam Zwig: The tour is going great! We’ve connected with some really cool audiences.

MAR: For those who aren’t familiar with you yet, how would you describe your music? AZ: I’d say it’s vision music – visions of what’s beyond everyday awareness, just below the surface of what you think and feel. And down there everything happening is meaningful, including the bad things…it’s all meant for us to grow…we’re all in process. Sound-wise I don’t know; people say I sound like Neil young, bob Dylan, Lou reed… One person said I play jazz!! But that’s not true …

MAR: Is it harder to command attention from people when you’re busking or in a club?

AZ: Busking or playing in a club or theater is pretty similar. You gotta do something real if you want people to listen.



MAR: What‘s the biggest performance lesson you learned while busking?

AZ: I busked in my early 20's while I was in Europe. Crowds would gather and the hat got full and supported me well. But it didn’t start like that. What I learned was to focus on my art and my message, not on trying to entertain people. That paradoxically drew in more folks.



MAR: Do you have a favorite song in your set to perform?

AZ: Lately I’ve been loving playing our new radio single, Going Back To Vermont. Just feels right.



MAR: You talk about spiritual growth through music. Who is an artist that you listened to that helped you on a spiritual or emotional level?

AZ: Spiritually and emotionally it wasn’t just one or two artists that helped me. I think I learned to live by listening to blues and folk and rock n roll. The music always speaks to me on a deep level and shows me the unsaid things in myself and in the world. Music is therapy. For me songwriting and therapy are the same thing because they’re both methods of exploring the unknown, the ideas and feelings you don’t know yet, the parts of you that are just outside your awareness. These are the parts that bring change, growth, and healing. Music is therapy and therapy is music !!



adam zwigMAR: Aside from a CD, what would you most like someone to take away from an Adam Zwig show? AZ: At an Adam Zwig show I’d like people to have an experience of something beyond what they already know – a thought, a feeling, an inkling, a sense that there are many worlds within yourself, and that you can transform life by opening up to things outside what you already believe to be true about yourself and the world. That and have great fun at the show!



MAR: Parting thoughts . . . .

AZ: Parting thoughts: Everybody love!



www.adamzwig.com - Indie Music

Adam Zwig

Posted on October 8, 2013 in Featured Artist by Richie Frieman
Portland, Oregon native Adam Zwig really means it when he tells us that he sees his music as therapy for all people – after all, the singer/songwriter is an actual therapist with a Ph.D. in psychology. He says “for me songwriting and therapy are the same thing because they’re both methods of exploring the unknown, the ideas and feelings you don’t know yet, the parts of you that are just outside your awareness. These are the parts that bring change, growth, and healing.”
Zwig says his sound is best described as “vision music – visions of what’s beyond everyday awareness, just below the surface of what you think and feel.” Therefore, it’s only appropriate that Adam’s latest record is titled Visions of the Shimmering Night, a collection of dream visions and their message. Zwig continues, “Like your night dreams, these pictures show you what’s happening just outside your comfort zone. Soothing and ruthless. Writing the album was similar to my other records. I never decide to write a song, it just happens. I don’t know where they come from. It’s like a ghost writes them. And she keeps me up for many nights until her work is done.” Click to www.adamzwig.com/ to keep up with the good doctor – he’s also writing a book and will soon be on the road supporting it and Visions of the Shimmering Night all at once. Keep reading – there’s still much to get into in all the answers to the XXQs below.

XXQs: Adam Zwig

PensEyeView.com (PEV): How would you describe your sound? What makes your style stand out?

Adam Zwig (AZ): I’d say it’s vision music – visions of what’s beyond everyday awareness, just below the surface of what you think and feel. And down there everything happening is meaningful, including the bad things…it’s all meant for us to grow…we’re all in process. Sound-wise I don’t know; people say I sound like Neil young, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed…One person said I play jazz!! But that’s not true…

PEV: What can fans expect from a live Adam Zwig show?

AZ: At an Adam Zwig show people can expect to experience something beyond what they already know – a thought, a feeling, an inkling, a sense that there are many worlds within yourself, and that you can transform life by opening up to things outside of what you already believe to be true about yourself and the world. That and have great fun at the show!

PEV: What is the first thing that comes to mind when you step on stage to perform?

AZ: Nothing. My mind is blank and my heart is open to the audience. As a performer, you can think of a lot of different things but then you miss what’s actually happening in the moment.

PEV: What is the best part about touring?

AZ: Touring is one of my spiritual practices. It teaches you to let go and move on. You’re constantly moving and you can’t get attached to anything, positive or negative. You have to find your own center and watch the miles go by.

PEV: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to hear about you?

AZ: I’m also a therapist, a Ph.D. in psychology, and for me songwriting and therapy are the same thing because they’re both methods of exploring the unknown, the ideas and feelings you don’t know yet, the parts of you that are just outside your awareness. These are the parts that bring change, growth, and healing. Music is therapy and therapy is music!!

PEV: How do you think the industry has changed since you first started out?

AZ: There’s definitely more independent musician empowerment.

PEV: What can fans expect from your release, Visions of the Shimmering Night? What was the writing process like for this album?

AZ: The album is a collection of dream visions and their messages. Like your night dreams, these pictures show you what’s happening just outside your comfort zone. Soothing and ruthless. Writing the album was similar to my other records. I never decide to write a song, it just happens. I don’t know where they come from. It’s like a ghost writes them. And she keeps me up for many nights until her work is done.

PEV: Name one present and past artist or group that would be your dream collaboration. Why?

AZ: Bob Dylan because I come from that tradition of singing messages rather than just giving you a pleasant musical feeling.

PEV: Is there an up and coming band or artist you think we should all be looking out for now?

AZ: There are so many cool bands happening whom I know personally that I’d feel bad singling one out…there’s a rich music scene happening these days.

PEV: So, what is next for Adam Zwig?

AZ: I’m finishing my rock n roll book on personal growth, and then hitting the road for a book and music tour. Everybody Love! - Pens Eye View