Singing and playing for over 20 years now, Canadian musician Adam Bailie has honed both his voice and songwriting skill into a howling, wailing country-blues machine with a sound genuine and heart-melting. Adam reveals more about his path as a musician in the lines below:

Greetings, Adam! How did music enter your life and become an inseparable part of it?

Greetings! It’s hard to escape the intrigue of beautiful melodies, harmonies, and rhythms that occur daily on and off the radio. My father owns a drum store and always had a band on the go, so music was always a pretty dominant part of childhood. My mother would sing me sleep with her wonderful voice and that must have planted seeds in my head. Once high school came around I couldn’t even do my homework because I only wanted to write songs and that’s all I’ve done ever since.

You have a very heartfelt, easygoing singing and songwriting style! What is your creative process?

It’s different every song but the reoccurring theme seems to be a strong melody overtop of a chord progression. It starts as mumbling and words will become formed if the song carries weight. Most of what I do is just trial and error. Ninety percent ends up where it came from, back into the nowhere.

How did you develop such a rich, authentic country-blues singing voice?

I tried to be a country artist a few years ago and the twang just kind of stuck around. Blues is sort of the basis of most pop music. Blues gave birth to soul and funk, and that eventually became hip-hop and most dance music. The artists of today should really thank the blues and country folk for all it’s done to songwriting. I look at country music as white music and blues as black music. So, I find it extremely flattering that you hear both worlds within my sound.

If you could form a dream band, who would you play with?

I’d have Steve Gadd of Jim Keltner on the drums. Pino Pallidino on bass. That is a pretty ideal trio but if it were my dream band, I’d get Femi Kuti’s horn section and dancers and Paul Simons graceland players to create a circus of musical wonder on the stage. There are so many talented musicians that I would ideally have a rotating cast each tour.

What is something particular that you do when writing your lyrics?

Listen to great lyrics, read good literature, think about unique experiences. Most of the time the words just come out of nowhere and when I really like it, I think “I didn’t come up with that”.

What is your most outstanding life’s moment which became a song?

I’m not one to write about my own experiences. I tend to work better when I put myself in someone else’s shoes. Some of the songs that are more about my experiences are kind of relatable motions; such as “Travelling”, “On Your Own” and “Does He Love You”. Come to think about it, “Together” is about me and my life as a songwriter looking for the balance between creativity and love.

What does it take to find success as a country/blues musician?

I’m still figuring that out. Being an undeniable live musician is important. I think it means getting away from my age demographic and reaching out to the older audience that respects songwriting overproduction. My generation is still fixated on what they are told to like.

What are your favorite software and hardware tools for music production?

Pro Tools is like my second instrument. I love it as much as my guitar. It helps me write songs in a different kind of way. I also use Logic Pro when I feel like experimenting with new sounds and when I’m just tracking really basic stuff. Analog is still king to me when it comes to hardware. I used to own a tape machine but I was moving around a lot and it was like having a piano. I will definitely own a tape machine again soon.

Out of all the live shows you played, which one was the most memorable, and why?

I have performed countless shows and some of the big ones have been special but some of the little ones have been just as special. No matter where I am performing, there is a goal to bring the crowd along on the journey as an artist. The shows where I feel the unity and it feels like we are all working together to create this special moment are the ones I always strive for. I might play 10 shows and only get one genuine breakthrough, but that is enough for me to keep going.

What is your biggest musical goal?

Sustainability: to be like Paul Simon or an artist that can have a hit song and can tour into the twilight of their lifetime and not worry about whether they can support a family or not.

How has being on Drooble helped you as a musician?

Drooble is one of the best layouts I’ve ever seen on any social media site. So far, the community has been supportive and responsive. I like how you get rewards for helping the site with content. If only Facebook was like that. It’s crazy to see how many musicians are putting all their talent and energy into these sites for exposure while platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and even Spotify are making the large majority of the revenue. It’s a problem and I think Drooble noticed that and wants to be the solution.