![Right before Meaghan and I wrote "Half Asleep on Carnation Street" by the campfire on Sunday outside the Holiday Music Motel.](http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/adammackintosh/images/photos/gallery/3278011.jpg?1 "Right before Meaghan and I wrote "Half Asleep on Carnation Street" by the campfire on Sunday outside the Holiday Music Motel.")
Right before Meaghan and I wrote "Half Asleep on Carnation Street" by the campfire on Sunday outside the Holiday Music Motel.
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Adam Mackintosh is a unique songwriter and Performer. Former lead for the Portland, Oregon band Gruesome Galore (6 European Tours) Adam has learned longevity and excelled as a songwriter. 6 years at Steel Bridge Songfest with some of the nations best writers Adam has shared stages and recordings with James McMurtry, Jackson Browne, Pat mAcdonald (Timbuk 3), Lynda Kay, Jane Wiedlin (Go-Go's), Storm and The Balls, Chris Aaron (American Standard), Blueheels, Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown's Funky Drummer), Victoria Vox, Melaniejane, The Delta Jets, Joseph Arthur, Clovis Mann, Mark Addison , Freedy Johnston, James Hall of The Pleasure Club, Eric McFadden of Parliament Funkadelic Andrea Wittgens, and a mulititude of other really great, highly talented industry professionals. Adam has performed at over 500 concerts in the US and Europe to crowds ranging from 10 to 5000. With film credits beginning to roll in, his personal style of music has been compared to many classic artists, T. Rex, The Byrds, The Kinks, Harry Nillsson, David Bowie, John Lennon, George Harrison, Robbie Robertson, and to many contemporaries...Monsters of Folk, My Morning Jacket, M. Ward, Band Of Horses, Jet, Iron And Wine, Radiohead. From Ruta 66 Magazine in Spain The Last Dancers Pre Revolution receives Album Of The Month For january 2011: (English translation by Karin and Ignacio) Discomatico A month that brings us novelties from Drive-by Truckers, Giant S, Atom Rhumba, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brian Hooper or Robert Plant is some month of touring; in addition to juicy re-releases of David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. Medicine for the Ears -- Food for the Heart The Last Dancers Alone records Now that the happy event of Christmas is here, why don't we go back a few months to get in a better mood while I curse Santa Claus and his damned troops. Let's start with numbers, with cold statistics, because according to official information, if Christmas begins on the night of the 24th of December, then summer begins 6 months earlier. This year, on that exact date, in order to celebrate the supposed beginning of nice weather and longer days, that vacation is closer after months of work, that we have fewer clothes to wear and beach days are knocking on the door, we found ourselves, just like every year since it started, in the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria. The perfect place to escape from every day life, to enjoy concerts that stay forever on your retina - unforgettable because on this occasion the concert was under a universal flood with the typical Chris Isaak summer storm - to eat gourmet and meet up with new and old friends. And during one of those placebo moments in which one feels like taking a walk around the edge of the crowd in search of an album, a t-shirt, a pin, or a book, I bump into a stand with the manager of a record label that never misses the oportunity to come to Vitoria. We talked about things human and divine, went over our lives and, of course, brought ourselves up to speed on the music business in all of its variations. When we said goodbye he gave me a promotional album and said, "Listen to this carefully, you'll like it. You'll see." Because I usually listen to advice from people I respect, a few days later I made time to listen to an album that surprised me and would accompany me the entire summer. I had that fleeting sense of exclusivity you feel because you have a copy that no one else has, almost unthinkable these days between Spotify and downloads, an anonymous secret between the album and myself, songs that have taken control of my brain, that I often hum. It's an album that later helps me overcome the post-vacation trauma. It's just after getting back to the grind of work and everything that goes with it, when I stop by the magazine's editorial offices. When I take a look at what they are working on, I see a copy of the album "The Last Dancers" in front of my face and immediately tell one of the directors that I have already heard it and that he will like it a lot. The next day he tells me the album has fascinated him ...logical. Because the new project from Adam MacKintosh is fabulous. As far as I know, and to his economic detriment, he is not an Apple partner, but a misunderstood musician that quietly and carefully weaves the goal of making it big with one of his musical adventures (Gruesome Galore was the last), but has not yet had the luck that any of them deserves. However it may be time, this may be the moment for Adam to come into his own and make known his talent as a composer. If what you like is similar to solo John Lennon or if David Bowie in the 70's thrills your heart, this is the album you must discover now, hurry up. They also remind me a lot of groups who seduced us in the 90's, like Redd Kross, Spacehog, Sponge and even the beginnings of Supergrass. This album will ensnare you thanks to a sound with obvious nods to the past, but at the same time a sound that is carefully blended with a more angry present, the result leaving an effective impact. The album begins in slow motion warming up its motor with the thoughtful "Dear Dancer", but it is from the second song (the addictive "Crazy in Love") on that you truly, hopelessly fall in love with this album. Medicine for your ears, food for your suffering heart. An album bursting with good melodies, a sometimes anti-stablishment attitude, an abundance of class and themes like "Psychic Radio" that sounds like T-Rex with Marc Bolan in the lead - also the guitars from "Lady Jaguar" -, with the impregnated melancholy of the McDonald Brothers in their Show World phase in half time with an explicit title, "It Makes Me Happy". The wonderful tones like "Through the Sun Eyes" will make you jump for joy. Therapeutic. Toni Castarnado. Early reviews of the new album from people whose opinions matter to us personally and are based on years of experience writing and recording. "This is great, it's like ROCK that you don't have to feel dumb about enjoying. All the hedonism, but without the misogyny. Face melting guitar solos." - Alex Galt (Musician- Green Bay) your record is GOOD TIMES. Way to rock. Super Only. your bud, Susan Howe (Musician-Austin, TX) "I've seen the live show and can sing the whole album.........it's a must have of the summer. I truely know that anyone who appreciates good music will keep this cd around for a while." -Elliot Goettleman (Musician, Sturgeon Bay, WI) "Got The Last Dancers cd in the mail today. Thanks, it's really a worthy listen. Rawk." Jeff Buck- Rocker. Phoenix AZ "You've done everything neccessary, writing and recording, to make an album that will sell far beyond it's release." James Hall (Musician-Atlanta, GA) "Been listening to your CD, it is really fantastic! Very beautifully conceived and recorded. You should be very pleased." Robin Bienneman (Musician-Chicago) "Thank you so much for sending me your new record. You've really done a good job. I have been listening to it tons. I find the tunes to be an inspiration." Best, David Rives musician -Power of County Portland, Oregon The Last Dancers Soul child of song writer/performer Adam Mackintosh, The Last Dancers throw down original rock with a classic, guitar-driven, pop-melodic sensibility. The genre line blurs from verse to chorus and no style of expression is off limits. Lap Steel, 12-String and 3 part harmony over "right-of-the-dial" BPM's makes for an electrifying wave after wave of rock pleasure. -The Black Apple Portland, Oregon The Last Dancers are: (Core Members) Adam Mackintosh-Lead Vocal/Guitar. Pat Bohan-Lead Guitar/Vocals. Kelly T. LeMieux-Bass Dano Capristo-Drums/Production  Floating members include: Wally Ingram on drums (Sheryl Crowe, Jackson Browne) Greg Eklund (Everclear) David Graham on Bass in Los Angeles. Some past show posters...   Press-University of Wisconsin (website) Steel Bridge Songs Selections from Steel Bridge Songfest, Volume 1 Produced by pat mAcdonald and Chris Aaron CDs of original music, including blues, acoustic, rock and roll, and more, inspired by a campaign to save an old bridge The Sturgeon Bay Memorial Bridge on Michigan Street has long been an object of controversy in Door County, Wisconsin. Time after time, the eighty-year-old landmark has had to prove its worth to avoid the wrecking ball. Since 2005, songwriters from across the United States have come to Sturgeon Bay on the second weekend in June with one purpose in mind: to save the old bridge. The Construction Zone is a week of collaborative songwriting that is part of the annual festival. Writing takes place in motel rooms, coffee shops, down by the waterside, and all over town. Internationally known artists like Jackson Browne and Jane Wiedlin hang out with local and emerging musicians, including national acts. The Steel Bridge Songfest has rapidly become a new Door County tradition, and now more people seem to be loving that old bridge now recognized by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Steel Bridge Songfest, with its infusion of new songs written solely for the event, is truly a first-of-its-kind festival, merging musical inspiration with historic preservation and creating the world's largest collection of music inspired by a bridge. The writers and artists all volunteer their time, energy, and creativity to this project. Royalties are donated to the Steel Bridge Fund. Songs by: Jackson Browne, pat mAcdonald, Liv Mueller, Mo Rose, Allan MacPhee, Cat Braaten, Corey Carlson, Paulie Rocco, Charlie Cheney, Andy Lubahn, Kim Manning, Adam Mackintosh, J. J. Verner, Rob Atwood, Troy Therrien, Ilan Laks, Jason Berken, Bruce Reaves, Mike Bleck, and Tom Schriner-Schmitt Scene Magazine Interview Wisconsin 2009 WHAT: Steel Bridge Song Fest 5 WHEN: June 11-14 WHERE: Various locations, Sturgeon Bay COST: $25 weekend pass, $250 VIP pass General admission to Saturday and Sunday's "Take it to the Bridge!" street concert is FREE! Nighttime venues (except Thursday) are paid admission only. Individual venue admission for attendees without passes will vary and are subject to change. INFO: sbsf5.com Bridge as metaphor. Bridge as inspiration. Musical bridges… The idea was to save the Michigan Street Bridge in Sturgeon Bay from the wrecking ball. A grassroots group formed to raise money for and public awareness of the bridge. A byproduct of the group’s interest in historic preservation was a weeklong gathering of musicians, now known as the Steel Bridge song Fest. The event culminates in a series of concerts around Sturgeon Bay and in a yacht yard in the shadow of the bridge, with a wide variety of music by local, state, national and international artists. Jackson Browne has headlined at the final main concert every year. But what the public does not see is how the week starts off, with a group of invited songwriters convening and collaborating to create new music that somehow relates to the bridge or a bridge. The best of those songs are released annually on a Steel Bridge Songs CD, with each year’s recording appearing on disc at the next year’s festival. Proceeds from the sales go to a bridge fund held by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As he has ever year since its inception, Jackson Browne headlines the main concert in the yacht yard beneath the old steel bridge. The list of 150 or so performers is amazing. Check it out on the website, sbsf5.com. Here’s a partial list of just local bands/artists appearing at the festival: Andy’s Automatics, Blueheels, Chris Aaron, Dana Erlandson, Honky Tonk Twisters, Ifdakar, Nicki Sims, Profane, The Wandering Foolz. We’ve heard stories of how musicians are so charmed by the area and the event and all the other musicians that they cannot help but return. Adam Mackintosh, a West Coast native, went one step beyond. He moved to Door County. We caught up with him for a few questions. SCENE: Did you actually move here after participating in the fest? Which year was that and how did it happen? Had you run into pat mAcdonald on the music circuit? ADAM MACKINTOSH: Yeah, actually. I met Chris Aaron at the second Steel Bridge (2006) and he invited me out to Denver to do some writing with him. We were doing some tracking in Madison with Clyde Stubblefield on drums and playing shows in the region when I slipped on some ice and broke my ankle in three places. Chris dropped me off in Sturgeon Bay where I had 6-8 weeks to heal up and got to know Door County. I did sponsorship for the festival and got to know more about the area and the people. Portland was completely behind me at that point, and falling in love with Anna (Sacks) pretty much sealed the deal. Anna had been working on the Holiday Music Motel project with pat, Jackson Browne and several others so we got an apartment and started doing things like the Songwriter Showcase to keep the vibe going through the winter. pat I met several years ago in Barcelona while on tour there, through our friend Eric McFadden. SCENE: Where were you coming from (I saw a reference to Portland on the website)? AM: I lived in Portland for 6 years and managed/booked Dante's while taking yearly trips to Spain to tour with my band. Before that I was in New Orleans for 5 years and San Francisco before that, which is where I actually "came from." SCENE: What was it that attracted you to the area? Was there a "eureka" moment to the decision? AM: Well, I was attracted to Anna and by the idea of working with the festival. The "Eureka" came in a slow motion sort of way, fanned out in the frames of 2 years' work. Somewhere around the "K" I think it started to make sense, when I realized the potential to be a full-time musician in this place. I began teaching kids guitar and composition, doing songwriter showcases all over the region and playing lots of shows in smoky Wisconsin taverns. Having a guitar in my hands the majority of the day has been a truly worthwhile endeavor. When I put The Last Dancers together things really started to get hustling. Now we're booked through summer on the peninsula and are recording a great deal of original music. Since the fest is the result of grassroots volunteerism, has your role in the festival grown? My role these days is more like an Ambassador. I tell people how great it is and to graciously accept if they are invited. What is your role in this year's fest? Anything in particular you are looking forward to this year? At this point my involvement is mostly musical, which is where I have worked very hard to be. I still help in a behind-the-scenes sort of way but it's more long-term and community based. Doing more outreach to other musicians nationally and working more venues into the actual routing of the musicians getting to the festival. For example, I've set up a show at a new venue this year with Player/Kommander from Birmingham, Alabama, that will help offset their travel costs to get James Hall here for the week of writing. This year I am looking forward to a large group of cutting-edge musical creatives working together amid the borders of chaos. I think some very special things are going to come of it. Is music your sole source of income? If so, did your standard of living change here? Music is about 75% of my income these days and live shows, CD sales and teaching seem to be where it actually comes from. My standard? It used to be worry all the time, now it's rock all the time, so yes, it's changed dramatically. What do you think of the music scene in northeastern Wisconsin? It's pretty weird at first, especially coming from a hoity-toity place like Portland. But what you start to figure out eventually is that the audiences here know their music, they like to party and are generally very down to earth. Once you figure out how to make the kids and the wigs dance at a fish boil, you've arrived. I can say this, there is a serious venue shortage statewide and many of the places out there could really benefit from adding a stage or a house sound system to their spaces. It would make mid-liner touring acts consider Wisconsin a more viable market to play in. Want to say anything about Doorcountyscene.com (an online music calendar/promotional site he created for the Door County music scene)? Beyond all the great songs written and recorded here by songwriters in the county (that stream free in the flash player), this year I've set up individual pages for some of the artists who tour through Door County in the Summer on the site, since I have very little time to administrate it these days. What's cool about that is everyone's Myspace calendar is listed so you can see when and where they will appear all season and those pages link back to the artist's pages so you can listen and learn more about them. Also, several new venues are on there now that have just started having music this season, like The Fishing Hole. Any regrets about moving here? None. It has been great and I have met many great people I will know all my life. Anything else people should know about Adam Mackintosh? I have a song called Steam Train in a film coming out later this season called Westbound. It was made by Arketype, a Green Bay media company. It has music by pat mAcdonald, Melaniejane and Victoria Vox. |
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Performance +
Very artfully captured moment by Ty Helbach 
Singing Train To Salvation with Eric Mcfadden, James Hall and Victoria Vox. ![Steel Bridge 6 Main stage with Andrea Wittgens and Kim Manning singing "Roustabout" a song I wrote with James Hall in the Holiday Motel Diner a couple days before...](http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/adammackintosh/images/photos/gallery/3277989.jpg?1 "Steel Bridge 6 Main stage with Andrea Wittgens and Kim Manning singing "Roustabout" a song I wrote with James Hall in the Holiday Motel Diner a couple days before...")
Steel Bridge 6 Main stage with Andrea Wittgens and Kim Manning singing "Roustabout" a song I wrote with James Hall in the Holiday Motel Diner a couple days before... 
Steel Bridge 6 with Eric Mcfadden, James & Liam Hall, Kim Manning. Photo: Marie Pynaert 
Text from the beach in Venice. Photo: Ray Rae Goldman. 
Amoeba show. I Love playing with this band! 
With Lynda Kay at Amoeba. 
Lead Guitar with Lynda Kay at Amoeba Records Hollywood. Love that Duo Jet! 
Playing guitar with James Hall at Steel Bridge 
Eric McFadden and James Hall Steel bridge 2009 
Kelly T. LeMeiux 
Pat Bohan. Electric Guru 
In the PDX Studio with producer/drummer Dano Capristo 
With Joseph Arthur 2010 
Camp David P: Dan Eggert 
Steel Bridge Songfest 2009 P: Dan Eggert 
Solo Show TAP Theater P: Len Villano |
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A very special evening indeed. This is at the after party for Storm Large with the Portland Symphony on Valentine's Day 2010. The Symphony performed one of my songs right alongside Cole Porter and all the greats. Steven Taylor did the symphonic arrangement and it was so beautiful, I can hardly remember it. :) Good thing they recorded it!
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The song "Steam Train" is featured in this charming and awe-inspiring documentary of the life of Adolph Vandertie. Watch the trailer at www.catchwestbound.com
 By Director/Producers Jim Rivett and Shelly Young at Arketype Inc. "All Alone" and Mystified off The Gracious Living record are featured in Damaged Goods a film by David Walker.  |
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