By Jack Criss, The Bolivar Bullet
Rosedale native and Cleveland resident, Craig Adams, will be opening for the Spin Doctors at their concert at the Bologna Performing Arts Center Thursday night, October 10, starting at 7:30 p.m. Adams and his band will be playing an approximately 30-minute set — and he’s very excited about it. “It’ll be the biggest audience I’ve ever played before,” said Adams. “Lauren Powell, Executive Director at BPAC, reached out to me about the opportunity, for which I’m grateful. We then sent a link of some performances of mine to the Spin Doctors and they approved my opening for them. I used to literally ‘blast out’ to my older sister’s CD of theirs when all of the hits were coming out in the mid-90s. So, when Lauren notified me through a group email that they had approved my opening — along with some very kind words about my music — I was really excited about the gig.”
Adams’ own first album, “High Note,” was recorded in 2016, around the same time his late wife, Katherine, first got sick. In the time since that record hit Spotify in 2020, he began working on new material. As a result, his new album — “Life’s New Debut” — which was recorded in Charleston, South Carolina at The Space studio, will be out soon. “I worked on it for two years and it’s currently being mastered,” he said. “It should be released early next year.”
The guitarist started playing when he was 12 and writing his own material when he was 14. “Nothing good,” he laughed. “Singing and writing about things I didn’t know about. But, I’ve developed my own sound and music has now kind of become like meditation to me. It’s all I have to think about at the time — very therapeutic. Especially since Katherine passed away.”Playing alongside Adams at the Spin Doctors show will be who he calls his “amazing” bandmates, well-known local musicians in their own right: Jeff Laurenzo, Ben Yarbrough and Schaefer Llana.
Will his two children, James, 11 and Kate, 10, be able to see dad take the big stage? “Oh, yeah,” chuckled Adams. “They were both excited when I told them about it. They know it’s really cool for their dad to play on a stage like that. Both asked if they could come to the show, and that made me very happy. I’m hoping they’ll be able to meet the Spin Doctors, because I told them that I was a fan.” Adams said he’s not nervous about the gig at all, even though it will be a big show for him. “I used to get extremely nervous before a show,” he admitted. “But, now — not really. Especially when you’re playing through a good sound system like at the BPAC. I really can’t wait. But we’re going to rehearse a lot for this one!”
