Flowpoetry

FlowPoetry is the originator of Jam Poetry. Straight up spoken word performance. One man one mic. These are socially conscious poems and stories woven together reflecting themes of the American music festival experience. Able to do full length sets and/or perfect for a unique main stage tweener. FlowPoetry can set the tone for a show and/or can be woven into later sets. Also available as an Artist At Large or MC.

With over 1100 shows in the USA with bands and as a solo poet, FlowPoetry was honored as a finalist for the MNSWA "Urban Griot" International/National Performer of the year alongside Leonard Cohen and Saul Williams. In 2014, 2015, and 2016, FlowPoetry was voted by the city as one of Madison (Wisconsin) Magazine's Best Spoken Word/Poetry Performers. He is a three-time finalist for Best Artist in the Annual Madison WI Area Music Awards.

FlowPoetry has appeared at over 70 Midwest and East Coast Music and Arts festivals including The Summer Set Music and Camping Festival (Somerset, WI), Hookahville: The 25th Anniversary of Ekoostik Hookah (Pataskala, OH), Summerfest (Milwaukee, WI), Tall Tree Lake Music Festival (Goreville, IL), The 50th Anniversary Furthur Bus National Tour (PA/NY), The Muddy River Jam Fest (Woodstown, NJ), The Overgrown Music & Arts Festival (Belmont, NY), The Michigan Peace Fest (Lacota, MI), The 40th Annual Midwest Harvest Fest (Madison, WI), MoonDance Bluegrass Festival (Fremont, WI), Jammin On The Wolf (Langlade, WI), Willy Fest (College Corner, OH), and Shangri-La (Harmony Park, MN). Venues he has performed at include theaters such as The Majestic Theatre and The Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison, The Overture Center For The Arts, The Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts, The Children's Museum Of Madison, and too many music clubs, bars, coffee shops, farmer's markets and galleries from the Great Plains to the Atlantic Ocean to mention. He is the first poet to be featured as a member of The Homegrown Music Network's roster of artists.

In addition to his performances, FlowPoetry is featured prominently alongside, Ken and Zane Kesey, Alex Grey, Wavy Gravy, and Nahko and Medicine For The People in the forthcoming documentary "Going Furthur" which chronicles the 50th Anniversary cross country tour of Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters’ Furthur Bus. He has also published extensively on-line and in print. Highlights include an on-going series of poems in Sensible Reason On-Line Magazine (NY), Glide Magazine, The Spirit Lake Review, Ch'an Magazine, a 10 part poetry/video series on Sound & Silence Media (Detroit, MI) and having had his poetry featured city-wide on buses as part of the Madison (WI) Metro Poetry Project. He includes over 15 published recordings on his discography.

In previous incarnations, Adam played catcher for the Big 10 University of Minnesota Gopher baseball team, spent six years backpacking throughout Asia and India, earned a Master of Arts Degree in Languages and Cultures of Asia and studied for seven years in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Buddhist Studies PhD program. He is a first degree black belt in Kendo (the art of the samurai sword).

He has performed with such notables as Bernie Worrell (Funkadelic and The Talking Heads), Hanah Jon Taylor (Chicago’s Artists For The Advancement of Creative Music), Vincent Davis (Roscoe Mitchell Quartet) and Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown's Original Funky Drummer). He has opened shows for The Steve Kimock Band, Particle, The Big Wu, Cornmeal, Buck 65, Claude Coleman, Jr of Ween, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Glostik Willy, The Werks, Horseshoes And Handgrenades, Cosmic Railroad, and The Joe Marcinek Band. He has also appeared on festival billings with The Jerry Garcia Band , Leftover Salmon, Ekoostik Hookah, Bassnectar, Skrillex, and Chance The Rapper.

FlowPoetry continues to astound! Prolific, multi-talented, and transformational. Beautifully crafted poetry…brilliant!” – Sensible Reason (Brooklyn, NY)

"FlowPoetry's verses find the right rhythm and pitch for every approach (and) he reads them with an ease that lets the music sing. … makes the relationship between words and music feel new again. Carves out a tribal, ambient, dreamy vibe.... " - The Isthmus Weekly (Madison, WI)

"Courageous and organically fused…similar to that of Rage Against The Machine at times, honest and holds the mood of a Shaman performing cleansing rituals." - Local Playlist (Milwaukee, WI)

"FlowPoetry is one of the most unique and riveting performers on the Midwestern musical and artistic landscape. On the cutting edge of the nationwide expansion of new forms of spoken word.... unique, theatrical and musical." - DeKalb Chronicle (DeKalb, IL)

"...very chill yet gripping. On a mission to bridge the gap between poetry and music and does so.... ...some hip jive, Cat Daddy." - Gapers Block Presents: Transmission (Chicago, IL)
“Leaving space for stories to unwind, but without forgetting the primal urge to move feet." - Leicester Bangs (United Kingdom)

"These are no frail photocopy-folk poems, but rather legends and tales drawn from a deep well of historical experience; stories that place the listener into the leather boots of the prospectors and drifters they depict. When you hear poetry created by an American ghost, it gets you to your bones." -Emmie Music Magazine (UW-Madison, Madison, WI)

"You've got a big set of balls Brother!" -Phil McCormack (lead singer of Molly Hatchet)