Alternative country musician Adam Hood will perform at Mugshots tonight. Hood, a locally praised songwriter from Auburn, Ala. is on tour with his new album, 21 to Enter. The tracks were laid down live from Columbus, Ga., and Atlanta, Ga.
“The truth is there’s something about the singer-songwriter performance that is just American. People are drawn to the honesty of it.”
Playing solo, he said he prefers small crowds.
“I love a crowd of 50 people,” Hood said. When he performs, he is usually inspired by the audience.
“It’s always interesting to see who’s flirting with who, who’s making who mad and who’s getting who’s number.”
Hood started out playing the guitar in church. By the time he was a teenager, the Opelika, Ala., native was playing gigs at a chicken restaurant for $100 a show.
Steve Earle and John Hyatt inspired him to write witty songs that derive from different styles, including country, gospel, blues and rock ‘n’ roll, he said.
Now, at 28 years old he is traveling Southern states to promote his record released in December.
When Hood writes a song, it’s usually inspired from personal experience, he said. His songs are mainly stories.
“If you don’t have anything to say, then don’t say it in your music,” he said.
But some of his songs are just stories for the sake of story-telling. “I’d like to say that my stories have morals, but I’m not that prophetic,” he said laughing.
Hood will play his own music, but also will play requests.
“People always seem to ask me to play songs by other solo artists, like Ryan Adams,” he said.
Hood plays these songs, but with his own twist. With his mellow voice, acoustic detail, and lyrical depth, his own songs win a grassroots crowd over.