Recommended Tracks: “GOLDEN EYES / A Sky Full Of Stars” – Live At The Newport Music Hall, “MAKE IT TODAY,” “LOVER”
Artists You May Like: Goldpark, Chris Ruggiero, Katie Lynn Sharbaugh
Earlier this year, Adam Paddock, as he done many times before, asserted his dominance over his beloved Columbus, OH music scene. He, along with his band of skilled and devoted musicians, headlined Newport Music Hall, one of the top venues in the city. The show, marketed as #COLUMBUSAGAINSTTHEWORLD on social media, was a monumental success, and was recorded and distributed to streaming services as a live album.
Highlights of the recording include “AUTHENTIC,” a brass-heavy tune perfectly suited for the new New York, New York musical on Broadway, as well as a rousing, exuberant performance of the prolific “GOLDEN EYES” with elements of Coldplay’s “A Sky Full Of Stars.” The latter showcased his fluid and diverse vocal ability, as Paddock is capable of diving into a plethora of genres such as pop, rock, and classical, as well as his mastery of arrangement.
He would return to Newport Music Hall soon after to serve as the opening act for alt-rock group Judah & the Lion, then quickly followed up with opening sets for alt-pop groups Gable Price & Friends and Goldpark on select dates. In just two weeks, he will hit the road again as the opener for Kings Kaleidoscope, a dream come true for the up-and-comer.
“LOVER”
While his ventures in touring have kept him busy thus far this year, Paddock has been systematically releasing new material. His newest song “LOVER” sounds like an updated, slightly more theatrical version of “For The First Time” by The Script. It’s straight out of the mid-2000s pop-band playbook of Keane, OneRepublic, and Owl City mixed with contemporary theatre sounds from shows like If/Then and Dear Evan Hansen.
“I wrote that song in probably ten minutes,” said Paddock. “I just needed to get those thoughts off my chest. Initially, it was supposed to be for my girlfriend, but it was really just words I needed to hear. There are bars in that song that, oftentimes, in a relationship, I have to reassure myself of.” The final verse is particularly striking, crashing down fast after a massive vocal and musical crescendo: “Lover… that weight will never be too much. I promise to commit to you and focus on your heart. The world will change but I’ll remain seeing you as art.”
“MAKE IT TODAY” + “WEEKEND
Other new releases include “MAKE IT TODAY” and “Weekend,” the latter featuring BOUT SEVEN and Caleny. “MAKE IT TODAY,” conceptually inspired by Clinton Kane’s “DANCING ALL ALONE,” is an immediate standout among Paddock’s discography. It begins as a lush ballad with his buttery tone drawing the listener in with his words of affirmation: “I know how it feels to be closer to darkness than ever before. I know there’s a deep end, but it’s not that far from the shore.” The ballad verses seamlessly transition to a pure alt-rock chorus, with Paddock’s tone shifting appropriately to compensate: “I’ll hold you close inside of this place. Give yourself a little bit of grace. You’re gonna make it… you’re gonna make it today!”
“Weekend” mixes Paddock’s versatile pop/jazzy tone, Caleny’s softer Clairo-like tone, and BOUT SEVEN’s natural hip-hop leaning flow. The tune is a grower, but “MAKE IT TODAY” is superior. “’MAKE IT TODAY’ was all that I hoped it would be,” he said. “Being so punchy and surprising, but also being dark when a lot of my stuff is very light.” Paddock intentionally released the songs ahead of the Newport show to give the audience fresh material, and stated he thinks both will continue to be staples in his setlist going forward.
Kings Kaleidoscope
As more opportunities come his way and the more artists he meets, watches, and learns from, Paddock becomes more and more familiar with the game he’s playing. “At the beginning of playing, I really didn’t know how to be ‘cool’ about it,” he said. “How to be more of a friend, a co-worker or colleague than a fan. Now that I’ve learned that… once we got some hair on our chest with the Newport show, people started to take us more seriously. I think that’s when I realized I needed to switch it up and understand the gravity of these relationships.”
Getting his feet wet opening for artists like Judah and the Lion, Jake Miller, and Gable Price & Friends/Goldpark has led to Kings Kaleidoscope. “It’s ridiculous cause my bucket list band that I’ve wanted to open for since I was sixteen IS Kings Kaleidoscope,” said Paddock, nearly jumping out of his skin. “I think this is it… they ARE the destination. After that, I don’t know who is next… it’s shooting for the stars with a Justin Bieber, a Jon Bellion, or an AJR.” Paddock and his band will be joining Kaleidoscope for eleven dates in August and October, including stops at the House of Blues in Chicago and The Gramercy Theatre in NYC.
Taking A Step Back
Nearly always on the go, Paddock, who makes frequent trips from his current residence in Nashville back to Columbus, rarely gets a day to himself. “I do a bad job of turning it all off,” he said. “But I do a good job of telling myself when it is a day off. I’ll take a mental inventory of what I’ll have to do the next day, then be stressed out in the morning. As unhealthy as that is, I do a bad job of it, but I’m working on that and getting better at it.”
He also credits his girlfriend for keeping him in check. “She is, oftentimes, a rock for me when I need to come down to earth,” he said. “I think that a lot of the times when I get stressed about the issues I do, she can talk me off the ledge and be like, ‘Adam, these don’t exist.’ She sees all the good. In my song ‘That’d Be Enough,’ it says, ‘Everyone wants to see the brighter side of things, and lately I can say I haven’t seen any dark.’ That’s the role she plays for me.”
Stream “LOVER,” “MAKE IT TODAY,” “WEEKEND,” and more:
Catch Paddock and his band on tour with Kings Kaleidoscope:
Follow Adam Paddock on social media:
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