Music Questionnaire. No 2 - Doug Adams

Doug Adams is a musician who performs English traditional music. As an enthusiast and performer his reputation is respected widely within the traditional music community, albeit below the radar of more commercial interests (and in this sense, this "scene" has parallels with English free improvisatrion).

He is a member of "The Pigeon English Band" along with Paul Gross (fiddle) and Sarah Crofts (concertina). He is also the head musician and "Gaffer" for Blackheath Morris, and was instrumental (if you'll excuse the pun) in me deciding to take up morris dancing. He can often be heard, along with many other excellent musicians, at the weekly sessions at the Greenwich Traditional Musicians' Collective every Tuesday, and the monthly Sunday lunchtime sessions in the Borough

Who are you?

Doug Adams

Where are you based?

SE London, SE3 SE10

What instruments do you play?

At the moment, Melodeons, Leics. Small pipes, occasionally Mandolin, Recorders, Whistles, tenor banjo and triangle.

What is your current or most recent project?

The Pigeon English Band

Name a record that had a big effect on you in your youth-

"See Emily Play" (Pink Floyd), Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles)

What was the last record/CD you played-

"Wingin'" by Steamchicken

List three records or CDs by artists other than yourself we should all hear-

Any by Rory McLeod

Describe a live performance that had a big effect on you-

Curved Air, that Sonja Kristina, phwoar...

Your favourite live venue-

Don't go to a lot now beyond pub rooms and small theatres.

What's the strangest place you've performed in/at?

A run down barn in deepest Essex. It rained and punters had to walk through half an inch of slurry from their cars. The stage was a knackered farm wagon, for the power supply they cut the lead to a grain dryer, we needed good filters to cut out the interference from the strange lighting that had been rigged.

Tell me about your worst experience as a performer-

See above, at the end of the dance a fight broke out which soon spread. Fortunately our sound man was an ex-army NCO with enough agression to keep them at bay while we cleared the kit.

Tell me about a great experience as a performer-

Playing for end of year parties at the then Dartford site of Thames Polytechnic in the 80s. These were standard format barn dances from 6 to 9 pm but the audience was huge and enthusiastic (and probably pissed and relieved at having finished their exams), everyone got up and danced and demanded encores, not normal at a barn dance.

Is improvisation important to you?

No



Thanks Doug
The Music Questionnaires are an ongoing series