Late last year after relocating back to California, I got the chance to play some lead guitar with Classic Country Chanteuse Lynda Kay Parker. Since joining the group I have played just a few shows with them at The North Hollywood art walk, NAMM (Gretsch guitars and Sure Microphones). I am very fortunate to be playing with such a talented group as each member elevates my playing every time we get together. The Current Line- Up is as follows: Adam Daniel, Maureen Davis, Christopher Allis, Steve Whalen, Teddy, Tina Guo, John McDuffie, and of course Lynda Kay.

To view some photos from NAMM winter 2010 click here to see us on the Gretsch Guitars website

The first Steel Bridge Songfest in June, 2005 was a one-day affair. Steel Bridge2 added a 3-night bar crawl and more great performing songwriters. Last year's SB3 hosted the return of Jackson Browne, and welcomed Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's, Cory Chisel, Freedy Johnson, James Hall, Jonathan Spottiswood, Emiko, Todd Carey, members of P-Funk including Kim Manning, and Eric McFadden and many more... A mix of international and regional artists attended the songwriting intensive in The Holiday Motel and played the nine venues in historic downtown Sturgeon Bay as well as the festival mainstage on Saturday afternoon.

Luckily, I was smart enough to accept the invitation to the first year of the Constrction Zone by pat mAcdonald, I met Anna Sacks, Chris Aaron, Liv Mueller and many other extraordinary talents. I had the great fortune of writing with Cory Carlson the classic Bridge Song, "What Can I Do To Change Your Mind" written and recorded in The Holiday Music Motel. Gaining track one on Steel Bridge Songs Vol 1 featuring songs by Jackson and pat and many other greats.

AudioCinema was a word I created to describe a place where independent artists could utilize every aspect of musical and visual production in one location. It was an idea I shared with my good friend Ilan Laks when he was living in San Francisco. He liked the idea so much he decided to pack up shop in The City and move to Portland, Oregon to finance the company. I networked all of my contacts with artists, bands, nightclubs, breweries, corporate sponsors, and video and audio producers that I had built over my 5 years as General Manager of Dante's through the space building relationships with the community. I was the liason to the Portland Fire Dept. when the PFD only allowed non-assembly buildings 6 events per year making an art collective nearly impossible to maintain. By the time I left we changed that number to 24 events per year and the art community in Portland will benefit for years to come because of it.  Ilan and I parted ways after a year and a half but Audiocinema is still a part of the burgeoning Portland scene. You can visit the site here: www.audiocinema.org


If you go there, tell them Adam said Hidey Ho!

I never thought I would like teaching. Not even a little bit. So it just goes to show you that you have to try something before you decide not to like it...I will have been teaching for almost a year as we move into 2009 and I have to say I love it. I feel like I have really found a way to express music fundamentals to someone who has zero knowledge of anything musically theoretical in a way that makes them say, "Oh, I never understood that before". Actually, I hear that from students who have been performing for over a decade. I keep it fun and interesting by adding in the element of Songwriting and as I teach basic (and sometimes boring) fundamentals, I will add in a bit about why C, G and F have been used in so many songs and maybe I'll write one on the spot with whoever is taking a lesson at the moment. Surprise! A new song is born....Seriously, the rewards are endless and there is really no greater gift to be paid to play guitar all day. Here are some quotes from my current students.



         "The experience that I've had with Adam learning how to play slide guitar has been unbelievable! He has been able to take this 45 year old rookie and give me the confidence I need to play live with just about anybody."

"Not only is Adam able to get me to the place I want to be, he is able to get me to leave my comfort zones with confidence."

"I love this experience learning with Adam because not only am I learning how to play guitar, we are writing original music."

- Fred Young

       "Adam's teaching style is exuberant and professional, combining his technical expertise with his passion for playing guitar. He has the ability to teach to a student's needs, and is very encouraging to his students as he imparts the language of music. I think he rocks, and someday hopefully I will too....if I practice!!"
-Jeanne Kuhns

   "Adam is a really great teacher, endlessly patient as I hack my way through new things as an absolute beginner. Whether you want basic chord structures or detailed chord theory, he'll gauge where you're at and teach to you, and he builds confidence so that you can take what you learn and begin writing and performing your own works, something I'm already starting to do!"

-Steven P. Link

Adam has the ability to discern an individuals "style of learning", and work with them on whatever level they are on. I think that part of what makes Adam such a fantastic teacher. It is a beautiful thing that he is doing by sharing his God given talent and helping others unlock there creative spirit. I'm forever grateful for what Adam has helped me to see within myself.

-Katherine Johnson


To book a block of lessons with me click here and find a time in the schedule that works for you.
Schedule and Rates

Door County Art Scene: Interpreting, Translating and Designing a Functional Art Form
Musician Mackintosh dabbles with rock posters
By Katie Dahl


January 09, 2009
Beer, knitting needles, cross-country skis: Door County's residents have a lot of coping mechanisms to help them get from November to May. Though it's only his second winter on the peninsula, Sturgeon Bay resident Adam Mackintosh has already found his own amulet to ward off the winter blues: rock posters.

"People think winter will go slow," Mackintosh says. "But I look at all the [music] shows and I think it's going to go so fast. I say, 'Just put up 10 rock posters in the kitchen.'"

Luckily for Mackintosh, he's got enough posters to paper a whole house: the veteran songwriter and rock musician has spent the last three months honing a new set of skills as a graphic designer. Since September, Mackintosh has found himself – rather unexpectedly – in the role of the primary designer of posters for concerts at Cherry Lanes in Sturgeon Bay.

"I didn't set out to be a graphic designer or a visual artist," Mackintosh says. "It just so happens that I can do this and it's liked by people."



Mackintosh originally came to the county when he broke his leg while on tour in Green Bay. He came to Door County for the six-week recovery period his injury required, and immediately "started getting involved" in the peninsula's music scene. Now, in addition to playing music (which he's done professionally for 15 years), Mackintosh spends his time teaching guitar lessons and designing posters.

When commissioned to make a new poster for an upcoming show, Mackintosh (true to his artistic roots) starts with the music.

"I try to have fun with it," Mackintosh says, "to interpret the music and what the show's going to be like and then translate it somehow" into a poster design. Because he doesn't pride himself on his drawing skills, Mackintosh takes most of the posters' imagery from public domain photos or artwork on the Internet. He then edits the images he finds, puts them into relation with other (often unexpected) images, and adds text with the band's name and concert details.

"If I could draw really well or screen print, I'd do that…but what I'm lacking in originality, I'm making up for in functionality," Mackintosh says.

The results of this process are striking posters, many of which are currently on display at Kick Coffee on Sturgeon Bay's Third Avenue. The posters' fonts range from plain to ornate, the images from simple to complex, but they all share a certain boldness of design and a tendency toward surprising visual combinations.



For example, Mackintosh points out one poster, designed for a band called Victims of the American Dream, which features F-16 airplanes dropping bombs on people holding umbrellas above their heads. In another piece currently on display at Kick, the CD artwork for the band D.B. Rouse, Mackintosh features tree branches in the shape of guitars. Mackintosh used real Texas currency in his creation of the piece, evoking a sense of vintage Americana.

"I don't think anyone else would have put this together," Mackintosh says of both pieces.

But even though Mackintosh values creative innovation in his posters, he also values their functionality and recognizes the restrictions of art that is functional as well as creative.

For example, though Mackintosh designs the posters in color, most are printed in black ink to save money. And though he enjoys the time he dedicates to poster design, the job isn't cost-effective unless he finishes any given poster in an hour or less.

"There are so many things in the history of art that exist because of a lack of money," Mackintosh laughs. "It's utility-based…I put something up to attract people who would be into that music."


Mackintosh's own band, The Last Dancers, appears regularly in and beyond Door County. As long as he's able to keep up this connection to his music, Mackintosh says he plans to stay in Door County for a while.

"Maybe someday someone will consider me for a graphic design job, which would be cool," Mackintosh says. But in the meantime, "I'll build websites, play music, teach guitar, all the things I can do and not end up flipping burgers," Mackintosh says.

Mackintosh hopes to have enough poster art to warrant another display of his work sometime in the spring. Until then, he's got plenty of rock posters to get him through the winter.

Poster Art Gallery