Adam Brand

Adam Brand is part of the second wave of Australia's young breed of country artists. He didn't pick up a guitar until relatively late, but it's the twenty years that preceded that moment which prepared him for and influences the music which has followed.

From the age of two Perth-born Adam spent three years moving around a lot with his mother, often between Perth and Melbourne. At one time they settled in Geelong where he learned about gospel music from his step father, a minister. At 10 he played drums in the church band. At 16 he left school and travelled with his uncle, a salesman, fan for six months they sold belts store to store from the back of a van across Australia before Adam set off on his own. Travelling the back roads of Australia with only a radio for company he discovered country music as the stories in that music revealed themselves in front of him 20-year old Adam married his childhood sweetheart in Perth and worked as a dental technician for a while, but neither that young marriage nor the nine to five existence lasted. It was only then that Adam Brand started dreaming of becoming a country singer himself.

He formed a band and began singing his own songs in the local Perth pubs before turning up in 1997 with his guitar and songs on the streets of Tamworth as one of the many hopefuls singing at the annual awards festival hoping to attract attention with demo tape he carried with him. His quest took Adam to Sydney where he hooked up with manager Graham Thompson. His first, self- titled album won three of its five nominations at the 1999's CMAA awards. Whether he was singing his own songs, those of others, or writing with the likes of established artists like Colin Buchanan or Graeme Conners, Adam Brand's music evoked a feeling that he was singing about his own life.

For the second album Adam was sent to Nashville for the almost obligatory songwriting session, but like many an Australian sent on the same mission, he returned enlightened but more comfortable about sourcing his new songs the way he had done before. More songwriting collaborations with Colin Buchanan and Graeme Conners, and instead of one, this time he chose three songs from former Cold Chisel Don Walker. Adam also dusted off and personalized Jo Jo Zep's 'Beating Around The Bush'. And the second album, 'Good Friends' was rewarded with another collection of CMAA awards.