Adam Hammer has a story to tell.

It’s a story of fatherhood, homelessness, love, addiction, recovery, pain, comfort and unity told in front of a backdrop of his own unique style of "tattooed folk" music.

Hammer’s music is inspired by the great white north and was perfected in the dirty south. His roots are in Henning, Minn. (population 735) where he was born and raised and started playing guitar when he was 12, but he came of age musically and developed his aggressive finger-picking style while living in Nashville in 2002.

"There’s something about being surrounded by all that music and all those songwriters in Tennessee that made me feel like I could just be me musically," Hammer said. "I could just throw it out there and someone was bound to listen. And they did."

Hammer gained a lot of respect among many of Nashville’s songwriters, concert promoters and listeners during the year he lived and performed there, but his veins flow 30 below. With his first child on the way, he and his wife moved back to Minnesota.

Being a husband and a father has been fodder for many of his songs, but so has his past personal life and membership in numerous alternative, punk and metal bands.

"I’ve lived a long 30 years," he said. "A lot of my life seems unbelievable, but I assure you it’s all true. From jumping out of a moving cars, to meeting the love of my life at karaoke while in recovery, to trading in my philosophy books for Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss, this is my life."

The musical melting pot that makes up Hammer’s influences is why his sound is so unique.

"I was raised on ’80s rock and alternative music with a splash of punk rock influence in a town of 735 people. I was an outcast who dressed funny and got in a lot of trouble," Hammer said. "Somehow I grew up, and I started to focus my punk rock roots towards my appreciation for folk and acoustic music.

"I like who I’ve become musically. I write music for me first. This is my story and it’s often like a surreal dream that you try to stay asleep for. If you want to come along for the ride and listen in, I invite you to stay awhile and I hope you enjoy it."

After releasing short runs of the "Figments EP" solo and "The EP" with Doug Yorgason in the acoustic group East Arm, Hammer took a few years off from recording. His second solo EP release, the "Tattooed Folk EP," was released April 2008.

Outside of music, Hammer's forte is photography and journalism. Check out some of his award-winning photo work at flickr.com.