Randy Adams


Randy Adams
Guitar and Vocals
 

I started playing guitar seriously when I was 14. I had played a little bit before that, but I smashed my nylon string acoustic after seeing Ritchie Blackmore on TV. I got another guitar a few years later, and tried out for the Eisenhower Junior High School rock band. I was rejected. I spent the next two months learning how to play the riff from "Black Dog". I still know it.

After learning the riff from "Black Dog" I convinced my dad to buy me an electric guitar, a Telecaster, and an Acoustic 134 amp. It was a terrible amp, but it was big and loud, a philosophy that still appeals to me. A few friends and I created a high school rock band consisting of two guitars and drums, no bass player. We practiced every day for two years. Whenever we had a gig, we hired Marty Friedman, future guitar player for Megadeth. I guess he showed us. Near the end of high school I was sidetracked by spiritual pursuits, slowing down any progress I had made on guitar at that point.

By 1983 I began taking music seriously again. I decided to go to music school in California. I don't remember what I learned except for the fact that there are thousands and thousands of good guitar players and I didn't seem to be one of them. From around 1985-1987 I stopped playing guitar almost completely and concentrated on creating the weirdest experimental noise I could.

At the end of 1987 I decided I was going to concentrate seriously on the guitar again. This also coincided with another spiritual journey. Although of somewhat darker nature than the first one, it may have been more fruitful of the two.

I decided that I was going to make a living playing music, and reduced all my possessions to what I could fit into my 1969 Chevy Impala. I got really skinny. I cut off all my hair. I joined a country and western band. We played most of the states west of the Mississippi, six nights a week, five sets a night. I learned a lot. I remember most of it.

I moved to the DC metro area in 1990. Since then I've played in "Train of Thought", "The Awakening", "Neverland", "New Potato Caboose", and "The Next Step".

Guitar Students
Randy Adams, is accepting guitar students! Email Randy at carlak2@yahoo.com

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