After visiting the iconic Paisley Park in Minneapolis last year, Adam McIntyre walked away completely blindsided by Prince’s compound. “I decided to put on the vibe that I felt at that studio while exploring some ideas of identity and personality on a record,” explains the Atlanta-based guitarist. On Friday, September 18, Black Planet was released.
Written, recorded, and mixed entirely by Adam himself at Bear Pause Studio in Atlanta, GA, he melted all his influences that range from rock to glam rock to funk to soul. Adam played all the instruments except some guest appearances by Roger Manning., Jr on keyboards (Beck, Jellyfish, The Lickerish Quartet) and Dashill Smith on horns (The Omega Level, Common Ground Collective). Adam wears his guitar influences on his heart and sleeve as he bends and plucks the strings giving the songs its melodic vibe. It’s got Lenny Kravitz swagger, Fantastic Negrito innovation, and David Bowie’s insight.
“Black Planet took about six weeks because it needed a little more shine than its predecessors. I’d spent a couple of records digging deep, opening up, and to me, the next logical step was to ask, ‘who do I think I am?’ I seem to have decided that I know who I think I am, but what if I’ve been wrong?’” – Adam McIntyre
The album includes eight songs that speak of the past nine months of world pandemic, social disarray, and political tornadoes, which sent Adam to find his center. From the single “Now Is Not The Time” that recalls Morris Day and The Time; “Let’s Get Away” that dreams of getting away to recharge, and the epic 13-minute guitar ending; and “Voodoo” which is total modern jazz a la Miles Davis and Galactic.
A native of Montgomery, AL, Adam was born to play guitar. His first lesson was live and onstage at the age of 9 in front of about 250 with Chess Records artist Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces (“Searching For My Baby”) thus beginning his love affair with the Chitlin’ Circuit. Then the floodgates opened, rock, funk, and a lot of David Bowie, MC5 and Lou Reed. After about ten years in Nashville, he moved to Atlanta to form The Pinx, a band that Paste magazine called, “an authentic tribute to classic American rock and roll.” The band is a showstopper for sure with their live sets around the southeast. The band has released six albums; the latest, Electric, came out in August 2020.
“I tripped so hard on mushrooms that I had a two-hour-long conversation with the sun and wrote a psychedelic funk record about the whole experience.”
Black Planet track list:
Black Planet
Now Is Not The Time
Feel Like A Man
Let’s Go Away
Step Out The Way
Return To Black Planet
All I’ve Got To Be Is Here Right Now
Voodoo
Adam McIntyre Bandcamp proceeds will go to Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective.
*Feature image by Rexway
