Red McAdam

Although he was born in the industrial heart of New Jersey, Red’s mother Maggie made damn sure that he would be reared on folk and country music. She served up a steady diet of Country tunes from Karen Dalton to Patsy Cline to Dwight Yoakam on the kitchen radio day after day. Red’s father, a lifelong bass player, took it from there, teaching him banjo, bass, and guitar. Forever restless, Red ventured through dozens of genres before returning to his Country roots.


A firm believer that an artist’s greatest work is their life, Red always sought adventure beyond music in his wildly vacillating careers. Over only the past 5, he spent time working in National Parks and schools, bars and the backcountry, and most recently spending several years between the emergency department and ambulances across the country. Now settled into his high desert home Flagstaff, Arizona, Red has hit the road playing country music full tilt. In this first barnstorming year, he and his band will have played 31 states over 10 separate tours, logging over 25,000 miles and playing well over 250 shows a year with no end in sight.


A first responder, passionate outdoorsman, recovering alcoholic, and heartbroken songwriter, whatever authenticity the country audience craves has been earned through his life, not place of birth. A self-proclaimed “Western fraud,” Red makes no effort to fit the country mold and rather draws from the reality of his life. Stranger-than-fiction characters and experiences from a life on the road mingle with honest, vulnerable expressions of a tumultuous life.


Although he was born in the industrial heart of New Jersey, Red’s mother Maggie made damn sure that he would be reared on folk and country music. She served up a steady diet of Country tunes from Karen Dalton to Patsy Cline to Dwight Yoakam on the kitchen radio day after day. Red’s father, a lifelong bass player, took it from there, teaching him banjo, bass, and guitar. Forever restless, Red ventured through dozens of genres before returning to his Country roots.