Long before he was performing on stages across San Diego, musician and singer Adam Jones was just a kid growing up on a quiet street in Bay Park, exploring the trails of Tecolote Canyon like so many of us locals did.
He’s moved out of the neighborhood, but Adam still loves returning to his roots. He has a regular gig on the first Wednesday of each month at Fast Times Bar and Grill on Clairemont Drive, performing covers ranging from country to punk, along with a couple of his original songs.
For Adam, like many local musicians, his journey didn’t start on stages. It started in a garage in Clairemont when he was a teenager.
His Father’s Son
Adam’s early exposure to music was through his dad, who was a performer through and through. His dad was a drummer in a band that was a regular at Webb’s, which is now known as Winston’s, in Ocean Beach. It’s where his dad met Adam’s mother.
Adam’s dad was always involved in the local music scene, running a renaissance fair production company and even performing in a pirate band at SeaWorld and an explorer band at the San Diego Zoo.
“It was not uncommon when I was coming up to have a bunch of people in tights and jester costumes, and all that stuff doing this old kind of English and Irish-inspired music,” said Adam of his dad’s bandmates rehearsing together at his childhood home in Bay Park.
From Clairemont Garage Band Rehearsals to Performing at SOMA
Adam was certainly influenced by the music his dad performed, but it wasn’t until his early teenage years that the musical bug really bit him. Since he was surrounded by guitars all over the house, Adam opted for the guitar as his first instrument of choice. He and his best friend, Steve, took it up together.
“Over the summer between eighth grade and high school, my buddy’s mom would pick us up, and we’d go surf terribly in the mornings and then come back to his house and just plunk around on our crappy guitars,” recalled Adam.
Eventually, they roped in other friends to form a punk band called UNit, practicing in one of the bandmates’ garages in Clairemont. They must have done something right because, before they knew it, UNiT was performing at SOMA (when it was still in Linda Vista)—all while the bandmates were still in high school.
“It was crazy because it happened so fast,” said Adam, ” We had merch and recordings, and we’re playing [at SOMA], and then Steve and I went to college the next year.”
The College Years: A Vocalist is Born
Performing on stage got put on ice while Adam was in college. But he did still pick up the guitar to strum while hanging out with his friends at UC Santa Barbara, mustering up the courage to add singing to the mix after he’d thrown back a few beers.
No one told him he sucked, so that was encouragement enough for Adam to keep singing while he played guitar. He also expanded his musical tastes in college, moving country music from his list of unlikeable to likeable genres after hearing Johnny Cash for the first time.
After college, forming a band wasn’t as easy for Adam. Hangovers and no-shows from bandmates made rehearsals impossible. But Adam didn’t want to stop performing, so he started doing it solo, performing at open mic nights in San Diego.
Cutting His Teeth at The Blarney Stone
What started as playing open mic nights on Sundays at the Blarney Stone Pub in Clairemont eventually turned into Thursday night paying gigs there as a solo performer, where he played for years. Adam credits the Blarney Stone and its audience with helping him truly learn to perform.
“That’s where a lot of the foundational understanding of what your voice sounds like through a microphone and dealing with broken strings and getting a feel for what it’s like to have eyes on you while you’re trying to remember this chord or that note—was a super cool training ground,” Adam reflected. “Plus, it was just a lot of really rad people [at the Blarney Stone].”
The Evolution of Adam Jones
These days, Adam has his standing gig at Fast Times, and on the last Sunday of each month at Nate’s Garden Grill, a rustic City Heights restaurant set in the middle of an organic nursery. When not performing solo, he performs in a three-man acoustic string band called The Thundercock at various venues across San Diego.
Adam’s musical influences are always evolving, but his favorite song to perform is called “Body of an American”, a raucous Irish folk anthem by The Pogues that expresses grief through celebration and camaraderie.
“I’ve allowed it to be sort of my in memoriam song for a lot of folks I’ve lost,” said Adam. “I’ve lost both my parents, and I’ve had friends who have passed away.”
Adam reminisced about seeing his mom and dad in the audience as he played and sang, and even performed with his dad at the Blarney Stone. They are memories he cherishes, and performing this song makes them all flood back.
Adam also has his eye on one local musician who he thinks is worth checking out: Alex Bergan. He first saw him performing with Sutton James, another artist who’s performed at Fast Times.
Adam’s Favorite Local Burrito
Santana’s Mexican Food in Bay Park, the current home of Roberto’s, would have been Adam’s first choice. But since it is no longer open, it would be Cotixan in Clairemont.
“For sentimental value [because of its proximity to the Blarney Stone], plus my nieces and nephews live over there and they’re Cotixan faithful, I’ll throw my support behind them.”
