ABOUT

From his first guitar at age eight to his newest release, Adam Sherman has built a lifetime on music, creativity, and connection. The veteran musician and lyricist, who first made his name in the Boston music scene nearly 50 years ago, has bridged the decades with a straight line of creativity, a calm demeanor, and a cool factor that extends beyond casual. From his early days in the fertile New England scene with bands like Private Lightning and The Souls to his modern-day solo output and guitar work for the resurrected Nervous Eaters, the sharply dressed Sherman has been a steady figure in the northeast, with six nominations for various Boston Music Awards and the ability to play any stage, anywhere. Now, Sherman readies a new EP, Nowhere But Here, led by the singles “Pure As Yours” and “Gratitude” and featuring harmony vocals by fellow scene icon Robin Lane.

Sherman first picked up a guitar at eight years old after seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. Soon, he was learning songs by the British Invasion groups and folk artists like Dylan and Ochs, and before long, was the only kid in his high school willing to sing in a band. That hunger for music led him from suburban New York to Boston’s vibrant music scene, where he co-founded Private Lightning in 1980 and signed with A&M Records. The band produced two regional hits, “Physical Speed” and “Song of the Kite,” before Sherman moved on to form The Souls, whose anthem “Shoot for the Moon” was nominated for a Boston Music Award.

After years of clubs and recording, Sherman took a step back to explore his other passion, painting, while immersing himself in jazz. Inspired by Chet Baker and later guided by jazz vocalist Shawnn Montiero, Sherman reshaped his singing style and began teaching voice, eventually opening his studio, Voice Lessons Cambridge, where he has mentored singers for nearly two decades. All the while, his own songwriting never stopped: solo albums Songbird, River of Dreams, and Triangle Sky revealed his evolving craft, and during the pandemic, he co-founded the remote collective Back Porch Carousel, releasing five singles born of isolation and connection.

Now, with Nowhere But Here and a monthly residency at The Plough & Stars, Sherman continues to create with the same spark that’s been driving him since childhood. More than 60 years after first hearing The Beatles, music remains at the core of his life — steady, vital, and unshakably his own.