Adam Olmstead was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on September 14, 1974. For most of his childhood, he lived in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Piano lessons at the age of five ignited a lifelong interest in music. During his school years, Adam learned to play the ukulele, the recorder and the tenor sax. He also sang in his church choir and toured with a church band. Before long he was playing guitar, writing his own tunes and singing in local pubs.

An academic scholarship to a boarding school in Northfield, Massachusetts, took Adam to the United States at 15. When he graduated, he headed for the Big Apple where he made a meager living performing in the New York subway. He heard there were better opportunities in Los Angeles and headed there a year later where he teamed up with a variety of bands until 1995 when he moved to Austin, Texas, going solo as a performer/songwriter.

Eager to see more of North America, Adam began what he refers to as his “hobo time” where he began to move from town to town. If someone told him of a cool place to play, he’d pick up his backpack and get there somehow, pulling out that old guitar at every chance along the way. For a time he moved to Toronto where he met and played with some of Canada’s finest old time and bluegrass musicians. Then, at 26, he finally decided to head back to the Eastern Seaboard to an old family cabin he still calls home today.

An old friend financed an extended trip to Nashville in 2004. It was a turning point for Adam. Here he became part of an amazing scene of old time and bluegrass pickers. Here he was taken under the wing of bluegrass legend Alan O’Bryant who produced Adam’s first album with Stuart Duncan and Mike Compton, two of America's most recognized traditional musicians. Here the music he had written throughout his lifetime found a home.

Though he’s played the Troubadour in LA, the Bluebird Cafe in Berlin, and the World Trade Center in New York City, Adam remains a man of simple tastes. His songs reflect that simplicity, inspiring a joy you’ll want to get lost in. A. G. Olmstead, Adam’s first CD, is a clear and true snapshot of the heart of a man who loves ordinary folks, good times and his “Darlin’ Dear”.

What’s in store for this creative soul? Though he warmly refers to New Brunswick as “the hardest place on earth to leave,” Adam knows exactly who he is. He will head wherever there’s good old-fashioned music to be made.

The road is always calling...