By Alyssa Bjornstad Adam McInnis’s debut album, Wherever You Are, (DPR) fuses atypical sounds to create a unique flavor of rock/gospel/funk.
On the eve of his album’s release, Adam agreed to a “Take 5.”
How did you get your musical start?
I guess everyone has different views on when music started for them. For some it’s a big break or for others it’s the first time they picked up an instrument. But for me, I guess it happened once I was saved. I was in college and praying for a sign on what I should do in my life. I started having lucid dreams/visions, and I saw myself on stage with a guitar singing in front of a large crowd of people. But at this time in my life I couldn’t sing or play instruments, but shortly after that dream a guy I knew was signed to Transcontinental Records (*NSYNC, Backstreet Boys) and he had heard from my friends that I was good at writing lyrics. So he approached me about it. He had a deadline for a couple of songs, but he was stumped with the writing side. I gave him a book of lyrics and, needless to say, I didn’t hear from him in months. After numerous attempts at trying to get my book back, the guy kept dodging me. We later found out that he was using my lyrics and claiming he wrote them. So I figured if someone was willing to steal my lyrics, they must be pretty darn good and maybe I could write a song.
Who or what has most influenced your career journey?
I don’t think I’ve had one thing or one person other than God who has kept me pushing forward in music. But I can say that I’ve been blessed with being around many talented musicians and singers since I started. My first year out of college, I lived in a house where almost everyone had record deals except me. But I learned a lot from them, and I was only 18, so I was like a sponge.
As an artist, what do you struggle with most?
I struggle the most right now with juggling many roles. I also co-own DPR, which is my record label, and there are a lot of duties that I attend to on an everyday basis. If it was up to me I’d be in the studio writing more, but there are a lot of responsibilities that I have to take care of.
What is the message of your new record, Wherever You Are?
Hope. Everything I have done in my life and in my career, has been birthed by hope and faith. I come from a place where I saw at lot of things that you wish kids just didn’t have to see…drugs, gangs, that sort of thing. By faith, I followed God’s message and His calling in my life, and hoped for something better. Anything can be achieved by faith. There is no limit on earth to what you can achieve. Only you put a cap on what is possible.
“Say a Little Prayer”—what can you tell me about that song?
I wrote that song when I was visiting some friends back home in New Jersey. One of the guys had recently come back from Iraq where he had received a purple heart after he was survived being shot in the face during an attack. I was talking to him about what he had been through and asked him how he was able to hold up and have strength over there. And he replied, “I would just say little prayers throughout the day.” That line sparked the chorus, and I put myself in the position of a soldier and wrote the song from that viewpoint.
Texan Adam McInnis reaches beyond the constructs of culture to deliver an album that is both lyrically moving and musically diverse.
Alyssa Bjornstad Alyssa’s greatest accomplishment to date was picking one major in graduate school. Her undergraduate career was filled with indecisiveness—namely, English, Communication, Journalism, and Psychology. When not reading textbooks, doing research, or writing papers, she can be found drinking coffee, painting, philosophizing, blogging, listening to music, drawing, or playing an immovable stringed instrument. After graduation, Alyssa hopes her dream of working for Passion Conferences comes true! Until then, she stays busy editing and contributing to the field of sanity. You can contact her by e-mail plansforhopeATgmailDOTcom.
She is Beloved 