About

Adrian West grew up in Montreal and moved to the Bay Area in 1995. He studied violin with under the Suzuki method from ages 4 to 14 and attended the McGill Conservatory of Music in Montreal. He then decided he'd had enough of playing violin for a while and moved on to learning drums, guitar, singing and songwriting all the while playing all of these instruments in various bands. Eventually he formed the Adrian West Band, has released two albums and is about to release his third and plays all over the Bay Area.

Adrian's approach to songwriting starts with the music. To be engaging, a song must stand on its own musically, independent of the lyrics. He composes the underlying music, including the full arrangement and the melodies that will be sung, from start to finish before writing a single lyric. It's only once he has something with solid musical "legs" that he will start toying with lyrics that reflect the mood of the music and his own musings, passions and concerns of the day.

Music

Oakland-based Adrian West Band is a three-to-five-piece acoustic rock ensemble that plays uplifting originals, catchy instrumentals and the odd cover song. To some they sound like a cross between Paul Simon, Talkingheads and Dave Matthews Band. A random fan once said they sound like The Apples in Stereo, They Might Be Giants and The New Pornographers got together and had an acoustic baby.

Instrumentation for the full five-piece band is 2 vocalists, acoustic guitar, electric violin, live looping, alto sax, upright bass & drums. The Trio typically includes all of the above minus the sax and with light percussion instead of drums.

Although the focus is on originals, we throw in a few interpreted covers by artists such as Paul Simon, Supertramp, The Pretenders, Talkingheads, Elton John, Alanis Morissette, Dolly Parton, and others.

Videos

Audio