BLUES-ROCK vocalist Adam Barron – who was mentored by Jessie J and Sir Tom Jones in the second series of BBC TV's The Voice in 2013 – is now officially living the dream.
He is frontman of Mick Ralphs Blues Band, Mick being ace guitar player and founder member of Bad Company – the band that inspired Adam to sing in the very first place!
"I first heard Bad Company when I was 13, fronted by the greatest singer of all time, Paul Rodgers," says Adam, "and it was like a thunderbolt – I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life."
From his late teens onwards Adam, now 27, spent years gigging around pubs and clubs developing his voice which became so strong and expressive that people often said he should apply for The X Factor.
"That wasn't me," he explains, "and it seemed to be about either laughing at people or putting them in some pop 'box'.
"But after ten years I thought it was time to test myself. As a lead singer you have to have an ego, but I wanted to find out whether that ego was justified.
"I felt that The Voice was different, it seemed to actually value people."
Adam made it through the initial audition stages involving thousands of hopefuls, to the last 150 and then to the blind auditions on telly.
"I was one of the last to sing, it was late in the evening and I had been waiting 13 hours.
"It wasn't until I got to the penultimate line of the song that I realised none of the judges had turned round for me but then, at the very last second, Jessie J pressed her buzzer."
From there Adam went on to the battle round in which vocalists are pitted against each other and other coaches have the option to steal the contestants they like.
"I was with Ash Morgan, an amazing gospel-soul singer, completely different from me but we treated it as a duet and it worked really well.
"After that Danny and Tom wanted to take me and I chose Tom because, well, he's Sir Tom Jones!"
Although Adam went out after the third round, he was able to benefit from the expertise of the Welsh maestro who liked the fact that he had a 'straight-ahead voice with no vocal aerobics'.
"Probably the best part of the whole experience was sitting with Tom in his dressing room," Adam recalls, "just the two of us, for two hours at the after-show party, as he told me story after story about meeting Elvis, Michael Jackson and basically anyone who is anyone."
Having had his musical credentials validated, Adam returned to the fray with renewed vigour.
"People who go into those shows expecting to win entirely miss the point," says Adam.
"The odds are so stacked against you, but I thought, if I can go on to make a living out of music I'll call that success."
Within a year he was doing just that and his new-found confidence spurred him to apply to join Mick Ralphs Blues Band, after they placed an ad for a vocalist on Facebook.
"I was invited to audition and there was this instant good vibe – basically, we clicked.
"After a couple of weekends of rehearsals and warm-up gigs we were off on a mini tour of the UK.
"On a tour bus – with the band, and Mick telling anecdotes about times with George Harrison, David Bowie, Marc Bolan...
"Being on the road with them is so much fun," he giggles.
"You know how they say little girls grow up to be women but little boys just grow up to be big little boys! We have such a great time and get paid to do it!"
Perhaps that's why Mick, who has been on the road for 50 years, is still keen to tour.
Now in his early seventies, he is still a member of Bad Company and Mott The Hoople and takes his band out purely for the joy of it and the opportunity to play stripped-back shows as a change from big production jobs.
It also offers him the chance to play music by his own heroes like Steve Cropper and Freddie King, to throw in a few Bad Company numbers for fans as well as airing some originals.
"It's been a real thrill to go into the studio and record an album with Mick," beams Adam.
"We did If It Ain't Broke live in the studio – we're a live band and capturing that vibe and feel is so important.
"There are three originals on the album, including one called I Don't Care, which sounds just like a Bad Company classic – it sounds awesome on the album. Mick told me that he was thinking of me when he wrote it.
"On top of everything else that, for me, was pretty much the biggest life box ticked!"
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