2023 Deep Roots Fall Series – Jeff McCreary and Craig Adams @ Bar Fontaine

Jeff McCreary is a singer-songwriter from the Delta town of Cleveland, Mississippi. Born and raised in between Cleveland and the nearby town of Merigold, McCreary stuck around even after a stint in Europe because of family and the irresistible draw of the Delta. McCreary’s music is the wry, hard-earned expression of life and time in the mystic region famously described as “the most Southern place on earth.” After discovering Bob Dylan at age 16, McCreary picked up the guitar and a pen. Inspired by Dylan’s music, as well as Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt, he began to write his own songs based on a style that could be folk, rock, red dirt country, anthemic, Shakespearean, sardonic, heartwarming, dark, humorous, or any/all of the above. Simply put, McCreary explores all facets of the broad genre of Americana in his writing and playing. He writes with a specificity that makes his music all the more relatable, offering an honest look at life and his surroundings. Songwriting is his passion to him, it feels like it’s what he’s on earth to do. “They show up sometimes out of the blue,” he says of his songs. “It’s like a gift.”

Craig Adams is a singer, songwriter, and musician from Cleveland, Mississippi. Raised in the nearby riverside town of Rosedale, Adams is a writer with a knack for storytelling, and a musician capable of anything from raucous rockabilly to gentle folk ballads. He was surrounded by music as a child and began playing guitar and writing his own songs by the age of twelve. Inspired by masters of the craft like Bob Dylan, John Prine, Doug Sahm and more, Adams is a songwriter first and foremost. There is plenty to write about life in the Mississippi Delta, and he spells out those real-life stories and draws character sketches with ease.