Hailing from the arid expanse of northern Arizona, somewhere between the mountains and the desert, Patrick Adams grew up feeling a profound connection with the earth. He and his brother Nicki (keyboards) were musical from a young age, but inspiration wasn’t only found on their instruments. The natural landscape was their backyard, and Patrick found melodies and rhythms in the world around him—the howl of coyotes, the rustle of pine trees, the hiss of snakes, the cries of birds.
Patrick brought this aesthetic with him when he left Arizona for Cleveland, OH to continue his musical journey. He found a mentor in Detroit legend Marcus Belgrave, jazz great and long time trumpet player for Ray Charles, and was given a serious education in the lineage of jazz, soul, and R&B. It was also in Cleveland that he met the musicians who would later become earthTone. Through years of playing together, they’ve created a tight-knit sound that can be at once complex and beautiful, healing with an unrelenting groove. It was also during this time that Adams honed his uniquely melodic compositional style, which has been praised by many of his mentors including Sean Jones, Billy Hart, and Jamey Haddad.
The final ingredient in earthTone was the sound and influence of New York City. Patrick moved from Cleveland to New York where he became enveloped in the city’s rich musical history. The tones of the bustling city, the relentless energy, the human-synthesized soundscape invaded Patrick’s consciousness and changed the way he heard music. The marriage of these worlds—the primal natural sounds of Arizona, the deep soul history of Detroit and the midwest, and the endless futurist energy of NYC, plus the magic of musicians who have a deep emotional and musical bond, are the ingredients that make up earthTone.
Their debut album colormelt is now available everywhere via daj records. The album also features soul singer, samira gibson.
