Country singer Adam Hambrick’s unconventional journey to music leads him to Iowa City

Adam Hambrick, a Nashville-based musician, has written many songs for renowned country and pop artists, but is now stepping into the spotlight to showcase its own unique style and voice.

Eric+Ryan+Anderson%2FContributed

Eric Ryan Anderson/Contributed

Austin J. Yerington, Arts Reporter

For country singer Adam Hambrick, singing in front of a crowd is a dream come true.

“I love being on stage and being a singer, and being in that moment, [performing] in church, in a bar, there’s something spiritual to it, it doesn’t matter where you are,” Hambrick said.

The Arkansas-born singer will be performing Nov. 8 at the Graduate Hotel.

Hambrick comes from a town between Arkansas and Mississippi, and grew up going to his family’s church where his father was a pastor. As a child, Hambrick, his mother, and his brother all sung in the choir.

“Music was always in my blood, it was what we did. Music was a thing that I knew early on that I was good at,” Hambrick said.

Hambrick first tried his hand at songwriting at 9 years old, but became more serious about music when he entered his teens.

Related: Nashville-based singer-songwriter performs in Iowa for the first time

“We always listened to the radio. And the first music that really spoke to me was country,” Hambrick said.

Artists like Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson played a key influence in both his musical taste and style. After graduating high school, Hambrick headed to the University of Central Arkansas, where he continued to play and write music. During this time, he performed his own music in bars and parties, and eventually recorded his first record.

“I was doing graphic design work, I loved that job, but music was that dream that wouldn’t die,” Hambrick said. “I found myself tinkering on the side, and found myself making a record full of songs I had written in college and shortly after, and I just made some records with some buddies.”

After the record was released, Hambrick promoted it on local television programs, one of which country artist Justin Moore happened to watch one day. Moore decided to send Hambrick an email.

“I thought it was junk mail,” said Hambrick. “It was not, turns out, [so] I called him. I drove to Nashville the next day and met him. It was sort of like a serendipitous or providence, or whatever you want to call it, meeting. He has been my mentor ever since.”

Since his first meeting with Moore eight years ago, Hambrick has written or co-written many country, Americana, and pop songs for other artists such as Miranda Lambert and the Eli Young Band.

However,  after the release of recent singles like “Rockin’ All Night Long” and “All You, All Night, All Summer,” Hambrick has returned to writing his own pieces.

Hambrick’s love for country is evident when hearing him talk, but he knows what style of country he gravitates towards, and which form he finds to feel right for him.

“I’ve never been a ‘beers and trucks’ kind of singer, and there’s definitely a place for that and that’s fun music, that just not who I am as much,” Hambrick said. “So the best thing I can do is talk about my experience and about what makes me feel.”

Hambrick said he always gravitates towards writing music that makes him feel something or express how he once felt. For his forthcoming album, he hopes to present those creative instincts.

“I know a lot of this record is me dealing with the younger me,” Hambrick said. “The songs I gravitate to tend to be more emotional, and I feel there is a lot of emotion and feeling in this record.”