Ernie Adams
"Making It"
page 2
From the Top
with
Ernie Adams
Knowledge,
Wisdom, and Guidance
Ernie Adams
Being a responsible artist will always adequate positive credibility,
which you will learn with Ernie can be everything in life to an artist, model,
musician, singer, dancer..... whatever you are perusing in life, you will
certainly go the extra mile if people consider you to be loyal, trustworthy, of
greatness, solid work ethic, can do attitude, fun person, positive..... and
ultimately .... credible to get the job done no matter what it takes.........
Artist Credibility
_______________
Artist Credibility really means, being chosen: not only being a great actor,
singer, musician, painter, writer, filmer, etc.... but following through with
the right attitude, passion, compassion for your art, and growing with your art
to make yourself a better artist. Regardless of what it is that you
want to accomplish, being a credible artist should be one of your top your goals
to achieve throughout your career, and here is one
of the best musicians in the world to explain why ...........
Meet Ernie Adams:
Ernie Adams happens to be one of the best percussionists in the world, as in, in
the realms of Dave Weckle, Niel Pert, Lars Ulrich, Tommy Lee, and on and on............ You
may recognize his style and playing if you listen to Ramsey Lewis, Al D'imeola,
Stanley Turrentine, and Ramsey Lewis, which are just a few of the world's
leading artists that are credited to Ernie Adams archives of artists he has
toured and recorded with. Ernie is also one of the top studio percussionists
in the WORLD, doing studio work and sessions for some of the top producers,
engineers, and writers. Some of Ernie's students include musicians that play
with R-Kelly, George Benson, and even myself ! Ernie Adams helped sculpt me into
the person I am today...... He helped me become one of the better musicians in
my school during High School, and taught me the fundamentals of working with
artists of all walks. I never would have had the ability to work with these musicians if it
wasn't for the teachings of Ernie Adams.
Ernie tours the world with artists from all walks, but what is most important about Ernie Adams, is
that he is taking 20 minutes from his world of music to help you gain some
knowledge on being a credible artist, a better artist, and for you drummers out
there..... a better percussionist as well.
Can you explain your success and how you have come to being one of the top
percussionists world wide ?
Ernie:
My motto is, everything I do is an audition. I started playing when I was really
young in the up-stairs of a house on 11th Locust, in the inner city of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I went from the attic playing for 1 person, to world wide tours with some of the
most famous artists in the world, and I owe it all to having a dream, believing
in myself, and going after the dream with hunger. When I was in High School and going into
College, I would practice 8-10 hours a day. I lived with my drum sticks glued to
me wherever I went. When I was practicing, my friends would yell through the
window to play ball or hang out on the street. Although it seemed I was spending
the majority of my time practicing verses hanging with the boys, the payoff was
achieving the goals I had in my life.... Those kids from the neighborhood are the same kids I see
today that say " Wow man !!! I have your new DVD with Al D'imeola live in
Germany," or they would be like, " hey, I saw your picture in the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel and I was reading about your shows, I will be at your show
man." These were the
same kids that would come up to me at a Milwaukee Bucks Basketball game after
playing in a half time session and ask for my autograph. My success is the
living out of the dream I have been living for the past 10 years. To answer your
question more directly, part of being successful is really never measuring where
you are currently in the true definition of success. You should always find
something about yourself as an artist to work on, that way you are always
experiencing your inner success in what you do.
Lastly, becoming a percussionist
and surviving the ups and downs of the music business has been out performing
myself more than anything. This goes for any form of entertainment, great
writers do it, great performers do it, anyone of great status is always trying
to out perform expectations. To out perform yourself means to constantly be your
worst critic. For me it might be to play a simple beat and make it brighter, or attack a song with
better emotion. It also means to mentally attack your art form. I owe my success
to studying other cats in the business as well. Being well informed of your
surrounding is key. If you are always up on who is doing what in your community,
chances are you will also get to take part in the hidden opportunities that are
out there. Today it is much easier to keep up with information and study
the who the players are because you have the internet to type in a name, get a bio, listen
to clips of the music, and learn. You also have incredible writers and coverage
of local arts news. For instance, when I was in school, I would read this weekly
paper called The Shepherd Express. I was always informed as to everything that
was happening in my community. This is another aspect of my growing as an artist
that has helped me reach my heights as a percussionist. If you are an up and
coming artist as I was, loyalty to your art and learning how to improve yourself
go hand in hand.
Can you explain artist credibility, what it is, why it is important, and how it
has helped you become one of the best percussionists in the world ?
Ernie: Artist credibility is one of the most important
aspects of an artist's life, which plays a huge part in your success in the
entertainment business. For instance, there were times I have been touring in
countries like Japan or over in Europe and I would be on stage with some of the
best players in the world, come to find out they were over looked for jobs from
the best producers / engineers, just based on there ability to follow through
with simple responsibility issues. I
would look to find these artists I played with, and find out that the incredible
guitarist didn't make the cut for a tour because his attitude wasn't right, or
they were late for a few rehearsals. I have seen cats that play 10x better then
others and still get passed up for touring, gigs, and playing studio
sessions
because they weren't on
time, their attitude was questionable, or they made the decision makers feel
uncomfortable with their ability to be a wholesome person. Let me say, being a
wholesome musician is being on time, researching your expectations,
understanding what the players / producers / engineers / managers want / and
making him or her, or the one's in charge comfortable with your ability to follow
through and deliver as a musician.
Credibility means to be chosen,
whether it is
on stage or in the studio, when a producer or engineer knows your ability and
knows you can deliver the art form music they want, you get calls to play and
record.
Credibility also means respect from artists, friends, and
people that work with and for you. The more respectable you become as an artist,
the better respected you become over all. It is all a healthy cycle that starts
right now. Let's say your a middle school student playing in band rehearsal and
your teacher wants you to play a Bass drum part in an up and coming play, and
your only part to play in happens to be 12 notes.... As you show up for rehearsals
and play your part better each time, you are building up credibility
with your teacher. He knows in the future that he can count on you to be there
to perform for him. You never know what the future holds, that same teacher may
just be the Performing Arts Director of The New York City Orchestra, and call on
you as an adult to take part in a Broadway Performance, just based on his or her
recollection of the credibility that was built as a growing musician.
Credibility building starts with the attitude you have towards your art form,
the people around you, and the way you handle situations. There were times on
our tour in S. Africa, Korea, and S. America, when we would be stuck at an
airport with no transportation, or we would get to our hotel room and be stuck
there for 4-5 hours with our reservations tied up, and situations with equipment
that made it next to impossible to play. There were times the whether was so bad
it seemed like we were running 3 hours late to play for a club with 5 people. It
is in times like this that your over all attitude is the basis for your
survival. How you handle situations professionally is what determines how you are
perceived to act when you are representing someone else in any given situation.
Representing
someone else
is the key phrase within the compounds of credibility !
When I am touring with Ramsey Lewis, Al D'imeola etc.... I am an extension to
who I am with. Everything I say or do is a representation of that person. When I
am in stage playing an incredible solo, a fill break, a groove that is just
outstanding, people look up on stage and think...... Al D'imeola is one tight
cat and that drummer guy made that show sizzle, what was his name, " Ernie
Adams, wow I need to get more material with him in the mix. That is the reality
of playing and growing.
If you are reading this information and you are in one of the many other fields of entertainment, one thing stands universal, and that is your attitude and how you handle situations. The better you handle them, the better you will be seen in the eyes of people that base some or a lot of their decisions on hear say.
Can you give an example of how credibility has paid off for you ?
Early in my career I was asked to do a
recording in Asia while I was scheduled to tour with Stanley Turrentine. I was
called 10-12 times from one particular manager / producer and he was not giving
up on having me fly to Asia to record a few tracks. I eventually got a break on
my tour, and hopped on a plane to Asia to record with these artists in Japan.
When I got there, I came to find I had to record the Bass parts, the Orchestral,
and then my percussion and the Aux percussion as well. As a matter of fact, I
had to write them from scratch. Then I was asked to help orchestrate the whole
score. This is just an example of a producer that knew
what he wanted on his album and knew I was able to deliver and record his album
with 100% assurance that the final product was nothing less than a masterpiece
to his likes. This comes from building up solid credibility from the people that
are around you as an artist. Another example of credibility is when you have a
producer like Michael Vail Blum ( who is known for working with Madonna, Michael
Jackson, The Who, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Martyrs and Poets ) call you up and
say, " I need you to play on a track for me, " that comes from the
credibility you earn by being a round about musician. You don't get calls from
producers like Blum unless your a credible artist, and I can say the same thing
for actors and directors, or models and agents. Regardless of your talent, you
won't get ( chosen ) if your credibility as an overall person / artist... isn't precise.
True Story ! ! ! One night I was in Warsaw, Poland playing a small
club at 12 midnight. I was tired, hadn't slept for 48 hours, I was hungry, had
lousy equipment, and there were about 11 people total in the club. We got up on
stage and acted like it was our last show on earth. We played our instruments as
if we were on a world tour in front of 100,000 fans, and we struggled to pull
the energy out to entertain the likes of 11 people and a drunk bartender. As I
was playing this set, a gentleman by the name of John Mclaughlin ( Guitarist
from the Maha Vishnu Orchestra ) walked through the door followed by none other
than Al D'imeola. Al and his musicians were on a world tour playing across the
street, and they just stepped in for a relaxed dinner with some live music.
Right after the set I was approached by Al's manager with a smile saying " How
would you like to join Al on our tour ?" Thus said, always playing at your best,
always performing as if it were your last performance, and putting all of your
energy and heart into your performance is another aspect of being a credible
artist. I could have easily blew off this little club show, played half of my
ability, and gotten bye, but Al and his friends never would have noticed who
Ernie Adams really was. If your an actor, model, singer, writer, film maker, radio talent, TV
host, etc.... and you are constantly putting 100% into everything you do, the
people you have around you will take notice and the word of mouth will help
promote your worthy of being a credible artist, or a chosen artist. This is the
same word of mouth that has gotten me on stage with Ramsey Lewis, Stanley Turrentine etc..... Notice that credibility breeds word of mouth, which breeds
promotion of you as an artist, which eventually lands you gigs that are
honorable and career building.
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