Adam Douglass shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Adam, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is a normal day like for you right now?
I’m very lucky to have a non-traditional schedule. I wake up in the morning and drink some coffee, followed by my exercise routine. The life of a musician is a fairly sedentary one, and keeping your body healthy is key for keeping your playing healthy. Cardio, strength training, and a healthy diet all contribute to being comfortable sitting for a long time practicing and teaching lessons. I started practicing yoga about 2 years ago, and all of the back and shoulder stretches have kept my repetitive strain injuries at bay. The healthier I feel, the better I play.
With that stuff out of the way, I can focus on my practice routine. I also try to get my vocal warmup exercises out of the way early in the day so I don’t blow them off, and then start diving into one or more of the pages and pages of guitar exercises I’ve composed. I run musical passages through all 12 keys, gradually increasing the tempo on the metronome. The exercises have strong rhythmic components to them, so in addition to working on my technique and precision, I’m also working on my sense of melody and timing.
My schedule is different every day, and by noon to 2pm or so I’ll start teaching lessons. I teach both online and in-person guitar lessons and my students are anywhere form absolute beginners to other professional musicians. Every lesson is different and every student learns differently, so there’s no monotony or boredom in my work. It’s always a challenge and I’m always thinking on my feet, trying to help a student tackle their weaker areas in a way that will inspire them and make it a fun endeavor.
Around 9pm I’ll finish off my teaching for the day. My evening completely depends on the day of the week and my mood. If I don’t have a performance that evening, then I probably have a rehearsal. If I don’t have a rehearsal, then I probably will go to a jam session. If I don’t go to a jam session, then I’ll probably stay in and practice some more. I have to make a conscious effort every couple of weeks to tell myself to relax, and that usually involves laying on my couch watching Seinfeld or a World War 2 documentary.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Adam Douglass, and I’m a professional guitarist based in south Florida. My eponymous bands play jazz and rock music, both my original compositions or cover songs, depending on what the setting calls for. I own a guitar lesson business called Bushwick Guitar Lessons, and I teach online and in-person guitar lessons. I also just finished my second book on how to play guitar for the music publisher Mel Bay, which should be out any day now!
My bands have performed in St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, and Broward Counties and I’ll occasionally travel to places like New York and LA for performances and other music industry-related events. If you see I’m playing at your local music venue, ‘The Adam Douglass Band’ will be performing rock music and ‘The Adam Douglass Trio’ will be performing jazz.
I have guitar students in North America, South America, and all 4 time zones of the USA. Once my second Mel Bay book is released, I’ll begin putting out some course material based specifically on jazz improvisation.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
While I was studying jazz guitar with Bruce Bartlett, I think he saw that I was a hard-working and self-motivated individual. I had been a part of an original band that had been touring, but broke up. I was working as a freelance musician, picking up whatever gigs would come my way. I was teaching lessons for other people’s lesson businesses. Perhaps not realizing what he was saying, he pointed out that “you gotta be the commodity”, and that made me realize that I needed to be the bandleader, musical director, and businessman. That way, I don’t have to rely on anyone else to find work.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Nope. Not once. None of the darkest moments, none of the frustrating moments, none of the scary moments, none of that has ever made me question whether or not I was on the right path.
There are always struggles no matter what a person may choose to do with their life. It’s easy to get caught up in thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence or that some social media influencer has it better than you. None of that matters because the focus should always be looking inwards, not looking outside. Every person has their own journey, and their own struggles that they might not be making public.
Another thing Bruce said to me in a lesson, when I was probably complaining about having to play a rock gig that would affect how much I’d be able to practice jazz, was that there was always going to be a 20% BS factor in whatever you do. The good has always outweighed the bad for me.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The single biggest misconception about music is that success equals fame, when really that couldn’t be further from the truth. I have friends who teach music and recording techniques at the college level. Are they not successful because they’re not on the cover or Rolling Stone? I have friends who make their living teaching lessons, playing freelance gigs, running bands, just like what I do. Is that not success because they’re not on the latest cover of Guitar World magazine? If you’re able to eek out a living for yourself in this incredibly competitive business, then you’re doing great. Like I said earlier, I’m incredibly lucky to be able to do what I do for a living, and I don’t take one moment of that for granted. It’s something I’ve worked hard for, and it’s something that other people have only dreamed about doing.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
You mean like when I’ve gone on tour? Maybe opening for the Stones, or playing guitar for Oteil’s band?
If it’s one of my friends, I hope it’s a story where either I was crying from laughing so hard or they were crying from laughing so hard. Ideally, everyone involved would have been crying from laughing so hard.
If it’s one of my students, I hope it’s about a piece of music or a guitar technique or a sound or a style that I turned them onto. Maybe that they were on the brink of giving up on learning the instrument, or giving up on progressing on the instrument, and that I gave them the tools to let them have music as a positive force in their life. Or maybe that they found their favorite guitar player, or favorite song, or something musical that impacted their life.
If it’s one of my friends who I play music with, hopefully there are stories about great gigs and great musical experiences. And the laughs mentioned above.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.adamdouglass.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_douglass_music/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adamwdoulgass
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdamDouglassMusic
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/adamdouglass
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@adamdouglassmusic
