Local musician Adam Reynolds, left for Pittsburgh on Tuesday, July 12 to try out for American Idol.
Not knowing quite what to expect, he admitted he was a little nervous.
“I’ve been trying to keep pretty quiet about it,” he said. “I have friends who don’t even know that I’m going,” he said.
Registration was set for Wednesday and Thursday, and the auditions at Heinz Stadium will take place on Friday.
Adam started playing guitar when he was 14, motivated by his goal to sing and play guitar in public.
“I saved a pay check when I was working at DiOrio’s Market and bought a bass guitar from a buddy. It just spiraled from there,” he said.
Later he bought an acoustic guitar, “and fooled around with it for a while”, before he gained the confidence to play in front of people, he said.
Adam, who graduated from the Town of Webb School in 2005, completed an internship during his senior year with Al Worthen at Mountain Music through the school’s Educational Studies Career Opportunities (ESCO) program.
Reynolds said the experience really helped him fine tune his talent and musical ambitions.
“I still try to get in there as much as possible and talk to him (Worthen) about different aspects of the musical world. He’s been really helpful,” Adam said.
Following high school, Adam attended Onondaga Community College where he studied performing arts and practical guitar, and later built guitars in Malone before moving to Boonville.
He has returned to Old Forge where he presently performs folk, rock, country and bluegrass music at local establishments.
“I really got lucky when Tal Daiker at Daiker’s Inn first heard me play. He liked what he heard and he’s been really generous by letting me play as much as possible,” Adam said.
He also plays at Tony Harper’s on Wednesdays, and when he returns from Pittsburgh he’ll be on deck with his guitar at the TOW Bar on Sunday, July 18—unless, of course, he gets beyond the auditions on Friday and makes it to the next round of American Idol.
He is also scheduled to be the featured entertainment at the MAC’s Safe Ride Benefit at Daiker’s Inn on Wednesday, July 20.
