Adrian West - vocals, electric violin, guitar, beatboxing; Kwame Copeland - bass, vocals; Valerie Lipman - vocals, percussion
Influences
Paul Simon, Talkingheads, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Pink Floyd, Bach, The Police, Sting, Squeeze, Bob Dylan, Phillip Glass, Dave Mathews, Joni Mitchell, Jane Siberry, Lyle Lovett, The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, Lucinda Williams, KD Lang, Rickie Lee Jones, Coldplay, Taj Mahal. Bach, Barber, Emylou Harris, Gillian Welch, U2, Michael Jackson, Joe Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Abba, The Who, Bruce Cockburn, Kate & Anne McGarrigle, Bonnie Raitt, Noe Venable, Michelle Shocked, Keller Williams, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Cat Stevens, King Crimson, Elton John, David Bowie, Andrew Steinmetz, Peter Steinmetz, Lynrd Skynrd
Sounds Like
Gillian Welch, Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Phillip Glass, Nickel Creek, Jean-Luc Ponty, Peter Gabriel
The Adrian West Band brings together three talented multi-instrumentalists/vocalists who love to make music together. Combining electric violin, acoustic guitar, bass, flute, percussion, beatboxing, “looping” and vocal harmonies, the band produces a full and diverse sound that spans acoustic rock, classical, Celtic, West African and Blues styles. They keep audiences on the edge of their seats with a lively mix of originals, covers and instrumentals
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Adrian West started playing violin at the age of four and later studied classical violin at the McGill Conservatory of Music in Montreal. At age fourteen (Led Zeppelin drummer) John Bonham began to inspire him more than Vivaldi, and he took up drumming in rock bands, eventually incorporating violin into the bands as well.
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He moved to the the San Francisco Bay Area from Montreal in 1995. As a violinist supporting other bands, he has played some of the area's better known venues including the Fillmore, Slim’s, The Independent and The Sweetwater.
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After years of supporting Bay Area bands, Adrian began performing solo, combining violin, guitar, mandolin, beatboxing and vocals in a live performance that relied heavily on 'looping'. He recorded an all-instrumental demo CD called The One-Man String Quartet, and several songs were noticed by Keller Williams and played on his nationally syndicated radio show Keller's Cellar.
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By 2005, Adrian had graduated from instrumentals to songs with lyrics. That's when he decided to form his own group, the Adrian West Trio.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adrian has performed with Alexis Harte, Jerry Joseph, Garrin Benfield, Spencer Day, Corinne West, Forest Sun, Vanessa Lowe and Teja Gerken.
