Letting worlds collide: Adam Baxter promotes newest album with three back-to-back shows in central

LEWISPORTE, N.L. – On the second night of his new tour, Adam Baxter greets a crowd of familiar faces at The Citadel House in Lewisporte.

Through two sets of familiar tracks and latest compositions, Baxter kept the crowd entertained with humorous and anecdotal interludes between the folk sensibilities of his music.

Through belting his numbers and playfully speaking with the crowd, the 35-year-old was visibly ecstatic to have launched the tour and release his latest album.

The six songs on ‘Domestic’, Baxter’s third album through Citadel House Records, explore themes of family and home life. This time around, Baxter also built upon the folk pop foundation of his previous albums by incorporating his work as a music teacher.

Both instruments and students from Lewisporte Collegiate and Lewisporte Intermediate schools are layered into some of the songs.

“I really like how I let the two worlds collide to create something different,” Baxter said. “I consider it an ambient take on modern folk music. This album introduces a lot of wind instruments that I also teach in the classroom.”

Trumpet, trombone, clarinet, French horn and gang vocals from his choir students are featured on the record, as well as percussion on three tracks from Gander’s Harry Parsons.

Baxter and Dean Stairs of Citadel House have been working on the record on and off since September of last year. While a full-time job teaching music created some restrictions on his recording schedule, Baxter says the space between recording sessions was ultimately beneficial.

“It worked out really well having the breathing room between tracking sessions,” he said. “It allowed for unrushed and organic ideas.”

After the three sequential opening gigs in Twillingate and Lewisporte from June 27-29, Baxter will continue his tour into July playing across the island and in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

For the ambitious tour of 22 shows in a single month, Baxter is also bringing along some camera equipment. He hopes to create a web series out of the tour, filming live performances in scenic landscapes along the way.

With strong initial reaction from the album across the board, Baxter is contented and excited as he begins this next endeavor, chasing the musical dream that’s been on his horizon since he was a teenager.

“I want [the album] to be something people identify with, whether it be the lyrics of the songs or the underlying themes of family life,” Baxter said. “I feel we have something really original that’s not been done a whole lot before; I hope the sound catches people’s ears.”

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