InSpero People: Adam Wright

Adam is excellent at what he does. He's passionate about his music and bringing other artists (musicians, visual artists, and varied audiences) into the process to share an experience together for the good of the city and the church. InSpero is thankful for his courage to try new things and to reach out to new artists in the city.

Here’s a bit about Adam and his work:

Adam Wright, writer and producer for The Corner Room, has been a musician his entire life.  He has had the privilege of leading worship at Cahaba Park Church for 7 years now and is excited about sharing this new music project.  As a founding member of acoustic music group, Act of Congress, he has enjoyed many other musical opportunities including traveling internationally as an ambassador with the State Department, collaborating with regional symphonies and writing, arranging and recording over 40 songs since the band’s creation in 2006.  Over the past 10 years, he has also taught private music lessons to over 50 students in the Birmingham area.  

The Corner Room has a new release, "What Great Mystery," coming out tomorrow (August 2) on their website, cornerroommusic.com and iTunes. Also, here's a link to a video from the album, https://youtu.be/59uDxJvprHw.

What's a lesson your art and/or work have taught you?

Music is a gift that has continually been teaching and challenging me for almost 30 years.  It brings to light my strengths, my weaknesses, my joys, my ambitions, my fears and failures.  But, the most valuable lesson it has taught me in every facet of my work as a musician is how to worship: planning a worship service so that the congregation and I hope in nothing but Jesus; calling on the Lord for help and wisdom when producing a recording; prayerfully considering a song lyric and how it may or may not honor the Lord and His truth; playing and singing, not out of duty or for a paycheck, but because it brings me joy to praise my Redeemer; striving to love and serve the teams of musicians around me, even when there are tensions that need to be resolved.  Worship runs through every word, thought or deed in our lives and we are all always worshipping something.  Music helps to focus my aspirations and efforts on the only One worthy of worship.

How is your life different from what you imagined when you were in high school?

To be honest, I was a student who had no idea about what I wanted to do for a career.  From an early age, I was heavily involved in choirs, ensembles, private music lessons, worship teams and even began writing songs in high school.  It seemed to be a natural gift.  Upon graduation from college, I still had no “plan” and found myself taking a retail position at a honey glazed ham store.  I can still see my Dad scratching his head.

In that same season in the “desert,” a weekly jam session at a friend’s house was becoming a more serious business endeavor.  (This would become the band of which I’ve been a part for ten years, Act of Congress.)  A move to an apartment in Moody became an opportunity to take a job helping to lead worship in a local church with good friends.  The good friends connected me with a school of fine arts that employed me for a decade as a private music instructor.  A few years later, I began working part-time in a young PCA church plant called Cahaba Park Church.  Now a full time employee, I’ve been serving as their music leader for almost eight years and have been able to use my skills in weekly worship and in writing and recording music for The Corner Room, a music ministry of the church.  

God has faithfully provided a clear path for me and my family and I am so incredibly thankful to work as a musician, especially when I imagine the monotony of working as a honey glazed ham cashier.

What are you creating right now?

Currently, I’m finishing up a very active season of writing and recording.  The Corner Room released a new project called Psalm Songs, Volume 1, a collection of original music arrangements of ten entire Psalms from the ESV.  I spent 2015 producing this album and have just finished producing our second project, What Great Mystery. While Psalm Songs was intended as a devotional/Scripture memorization tool, WGM offers more selections for corporate worship (two retuned hymns, two original worship songs and a fresh rendition of the Doxology).  This project will release at the end of July.  I already have plans to release a Scripture Song project for kids and another batch of Psalm Songs in 2017.  Setting Scripture to song has quickly become one of my favorite things to do and I plan to do much more of it in the future.

Act of Congress is finishing up pre-production for a new 3 song EP due out in fall/winter of this year.

What does your future hold?

There was a point in my life when being able to play and record music in a touring band excited me.  The allure of a life known and praised by many for my skills was enticing.  This also seemed a very complicated venture, one that would require endless sacrifice from me and my family.

Now, a (hopefully) matured thirty-something, the thought of that life absolutely repels me now.  There is great joy in living a simple life, loving my family, friends and others the Lord places in my path and using the gifts God has given me to make much of His name and grow His kingdom.  I don’t know specifically what that will look like, but I know that it’s exactly where I want to be.

What are your hopes for Birmingham's creative community?

In the past ten years, I have grown in my awareness of and appreciation for the artistic community in Birmingham.  Two specific ways that have broadened my view are Inspero event, Thy Love Inspires and VIBRANT, Cahaba Park Church's annual music and arts festival.

Thy Love Inspires is a special event to me because it's an opportunity to band together with friends I've known for years for a night of music.  Our set list is compiled of a very diverse collection of original songs intended to encourage and empower the church.  As individuals, we bring these songs to the table, but collectively, styles and personalities merge to create a collaborative tapestry of music.  It's a beautiful picture - we're called into community together and this event is a direct reflection of that.

VIBRANT is an event that features artwork and music based on the Psalms.  I am not an artist, but have grown to appreciate the diversity in artistic style to communicate and display the grace and truth of God.  There is supreme value not only in the artwork, but in the artists who are using their gifts to point people to the beauty of creation and it's Creator.  I'm so grateful to be a part of the event and am looking forward to next year's festival.

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