Adrian Niles

A singer, songwriter, and guitar slinger who fuses the raw passion of the blues with the force and swagger of rock & roll, Adrian Niles grew up in the Upper Ohio Valley and was raised in a musical household. Niles' father Loren Porter played in a bluegrass group that also featured his cousin Harold Dailey and uncle Larry Porter, and Adrian grew up watching the family band rehearse in the kitchen. Seeing the band play on-stage had a strong influence on Niles, and when he was nine, he saved money, bought a guitar and started learning to play.

Before long he was picking along with vintage country-rock albums, and he formed his first band, Legacy, when he was a freshman in high school. Legacy specialized in hard rock covers and did steady business playing at local clubs, but at age 19 Niles was eager to try something more ambitious. In 1993, Niles debuted Reverend Smitty and the Backsliders, a jam band in which he and his bandmates stretched out on material by Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead. Niles also began writing his own songs, and by 1996 he had relocated to Memphis, Tennessee and was striking out on his own as a blues artist.

After winning a few talent contests but finding few gigs, Niles headed back to Ohio, and formed the first lineup of the Adrian Niles Band. The band gigged heavily, finding loyal fans in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Wheeling, West Virginia, and in 1998 the Adrian Niles Band released their first album, Manumit, produced in part by Pittsburgh rock hero Norman Nardini. While the album was well received locally, the Adrian Niles Band soon broke up, and while they would reunite periodically, Niles would primarily gig as a solo act until 2006, when he formed the roots rock band the Trainjumpers with Matt Heusel. The group's debut album, 2007's Deadtown, was well received by fans and critics, but before long Niles opted out of the group and recommitted himself to a solo career.

In 2008, Niles released his first proper solo effort, Things Gonna Break, and two more albums followed in 2010, a studio set titled Ghost Road and a live disc, Bootlegged Down on Main Street. By this time, Niles was establishing himself as a powerful live act, and he was sharing stages with the likes of Dave Mason, Los Lonely Boys, and New Riders of the Purple Sage, as well as earning high marks in blues competitions around the country. Niles also licensed his songs for use on the popular TV shows Justified and The Young and the Restless. In 2011, Niles released Roll and Move, and three years later he dropped Rough Rider. In 2015, Niles delivered one of his most accomplished sets to date, Supermoon, which Niles described as "a record with a strong lyrical narrative, vintage-tone heavy guitars, big drums, and loud bass, Fender Rhodes, and Hammond organ." (-Mark Deming.)

In the years following Supermoon, Niles released Digital 45, a two-song collection of original folk songs. He, also, produced an original holiday song called Christmas Bell.

Adrian spent the latter part of 2019 and the quarantine months of 2020 writing and recording his seventh record at his home in Ohio. Distant Skies is captivating and deep, it delves into the darker parts of the labyrinth forged by a lifelong struggle with self-actualization, the loss of his father in 2016, and the uncertainty that goes along with providing for a family through a global pandemic. With Distant Skies, Niles unlocked another gateway on the creative path.

In 2022, a new Adrian Niles album has been tracked and mixed. Wolf Spider, a full length analog tape production, was captured, mostly līve, over 3 sessions in April. It’s introspective, garage, rock, heavy blues, and raw. Wolf Spider’s vinyl release is slated for mid to late 2023.