Sydney Adams: A Lot Like You
Kentucky’s own queen, Sydney Adams, has just released one of the hottest new country EPs of 2022. Sydney has been singing since she was just 12 years old starting at the Cumberland Mountain Fall Festival a little over a decade ago. A few years later at 15 she began writing her own songs. Adams hails from the little East Kentucky town of Corbin. When she’s not dominating the Kentucky Scene, she spends her time gigging down in Tennessee. Sydney’s voice is a true representation of the East Kentucky Sound whether she’s singing her own songs, or ripping up covers like Lorde’s “Royals.”
Adams has a commanding stage presence. Having witnessed a few of her performances, I can easily say that when she’s on stage most heads in the crowds are turning to see who in the world is making these sweet sounds. Her merchandise is killer, her management team, Hollerbilly Management, is one of the finest teams in the state, and if that isn’t to boot, she has released one of the most well-produced records I’ve heard in a long time. Her first track, “Sinners Like Me,” upbeat minor-keyed, with a driving beat, features a pedal steel and some fantastic guitar work. Adams penned this one herself, and you can tell she sings it with feeling. “Sinners like me are always singing the same damn song,” Adams sings right before a ripping steel solo, followed by an impressive lead guitar solo. This whole thing is pretty hard country and I’m here for it. After talking with Adams I found out that the record was recorded and produced by Matt McQueen at Gem City Studios in Jellico, TN.
Adams, now 25, has been a country music fan for a long time, drawing inspiration from artists like Kacey Musgraves, Reba McEntire, and Lee Ann Womack. Her next tune on this EP, “It Never Was” is a badass tune about getting wild, not falling in line, and being yourself. One of my favorite lines in this song is, “you might think you’re a bad girl, but baby I'm badder than you” and that is the truth. Adams is one of the baddest gals on the scene right now and if this song doesn’t prove it, her cover of Lorde’s “Royals” will solidify my position. This was one of my favorite pop songs back in 2013, and to hear it turned into a classic country song completely made my year. Sydney has a message for the other young female artists out there, “obviously it is a male dominated career, if that’s where you wanna go, play it to your advantage 100%. You have to be on top of your game; you have to try 10 times harder; you will be the only female at the venue. Odds are, you'll be the only one of three females on a 20 act bill, but do not get disheartened by that; play it to your advantage 100% because you now stand out amongst the entire bill with what you bring to the table as a female.”
The record ends with “A Sad Song,” and it has a pretty cool story behind it. When they were 75% done with the record and were cutting the last song, Adams made the decision that the song they were cutting was not the one that needed to be on the record, so while they were in the studio, Adams got a song out of her phone and her guitar player, Curtis, started strumming a melody and she sang the lyrics to the melody and tears began to flow from her face. A short while after the song was cut, Adams lost her grandmother. This song helped her and her family through that difficult time and it was “meant to be on the EP, because it was perfect timing,” Adams said.
There’s only so much you can say about someone’s voice and there’s only so much you can get from a recording, so after you fall in love with this EP make sure you catch Adams live so you can truly appreciate her talent. Sydney Adams has a lot to offer the music scene and I can’t wait to hear what she has next so make sure you stay tuned for all that she has coming.
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