Adam Sherman gets by with help from friends and a little bit of ‘Gratitude’
Cambridge singer-songwriter teams with Robin Lane for a new single of compassion, community, and defiant joy on Friday, February 28
OUT NOW: Listen to ‘Gratitude’ via Bandcamp
‘Nowhere But Here’ EP out March 28 ahead of release party at Club Passim
BOSTON, Mass. [February 28, 2025] – Even in the darkest of timelines and grayest of days, a simple gesture of “Gratitude” can illuminate a necessary path forward. Just ask Adam Sherman.
The Cambridge singer-songwriter and Boston music scene veteran, known for work that spans decades from early bands like Private Lightning and The Souls to a distinguished modern-day solo career and as former guitarist for the resurrected Nervous Eaters, releases his latest single on Friday, February 28.
A needed tonic for our collective demoralization and a welcome dose of communal appreciation, “Gratitude” is the follow-up to last fall’s Bandcamp-exclusive “Pure As Yours,” and leads off Sherman’s forthcoming new EP, Nowhere But Here. The four-track collection of new material is out digitally and compact disc on March 28, with the record release party the following night at Club Passim in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
“‘Gratitude’ is about focusing on thankfulness for the good things in our lives, rather than the difficulties we encounter every day,” Sherman says. “It’s about finding light in the darkness. It’s about having hope when there is so much sadness in the world. I challenged myself to write a song about all that I have to be thankful for… I often write about love and loss and I wanted to go in an entirely new direction.”
Not unlike his 2021 single “Hope,” which rallied around optimism and community during the Covid-19 pandemic, “Gratitude” is an unapologetic musical remedy to counter the increasing vitriol we’re experiencing in these tense and divisive days. With a sweeping rock and roll swagger, a lush sense of earnestness, and an Americana-kissed warmth that could heat up even the coldest New England winter, the song is defiant in its joy.
And it finds Sherman at his collaborative best, enlisting Boston music icon Robin Lane for harmony vocals. Lane, known for her work in the ‘80s fronting beloved pop-rock group The Chartbusters, provides her unmistakable voice to the Nowhere But Here EP, and joins Sherman on stage at the Passim release party on March 29. But despite Sherman and Lane both having deep, rich histories in the Boston music scene, they began collaborating only recently.
“Robin and I met by sharing songs with each other by email,” Sherman admits. “I’ve always loved Robin’s voice and when she responded positively to ‘Gratitude’ I asked if she would be willing to sing harmony. She agreed, and when we began recording in the studio it became clear that her voice would be beautiful on the other songs as well.”
Produced by Ken Field; recorded and mixed by Jon Evans at Brick Hill Studio in Orleans, MA; and mastered by Mark Alan Miller, “Gratitude” represents a bit of a new chapter for Sherman, who self-releases the track under his own Haddon Road Music. It’s indebted to his past work, but also clears a new path forward as his artist studio in Cambridge provides the backdrop for his various creative passions, from writing and playing music to painting to graphic design to running a successful voice lessons business for the past 12 years.
“My songwriting is always developing and to that extent ‘Gratitude’ does represent a fresh start while still having continuity with my past. We’re living in a time when I feel that more than ever art needs to speak the truth. Through creativity and community we will persevere.”
And Sherman’s sense of community is well-represented on “Gratitude” and the EP as a whole. Much like his monthly Sunday matinee residency at The Plough & Stars in Cambridge, where he is constantly surrounded by collaborators, confidants, and co-conspirators from all circles and scenes of the Boston music scene, Nowhere But Here is a solo effort in theory only.
Across its four tracks, Sherman provides vocals and acoustic guitar and Lane gives an inspired harmony vocal performance. To execute the full vision Sherman has for the EP, he also brought in Field (string arrangement); Jon Evans (bass, lap steel, percussion), Mark Usher (guitar); Matthew Hutchinson (piano, organ); Matthias Bossi (drums); Dorothea Samaha (violin); and Eve Samaha (cello) to create the ethereal and expansive sound that emerges poignantly from the speakers.
In the right here, right now, the EP, and especially “Gratitude,” rings loudly with intent and purpose. It’s Sherman rallying around his friends and community, as he’s done for years, and finding that ray of light that pushes through the cracks and allows us to appreciate what we have all around us.
“These songs,” Sherman concludes, “are all about finding the strength to persevere and move towards love and kindness, even when there is loss.”
‘Nowhere But Here’ EP production credits:
Music and lyrics by Adam Sherman
Produced by Ken Field
Recorded and mixed by Jon Evans at Brick Hill Studio, Orleans MA
Mastered by Mark Alan Miller
String arrangement by Ken Field
‘Pure As Yours’ produced and recorded by Adam Sherman at Sound Central, Cambridge MA
Mastered by Dave Locke at JP Masters
EP cover photo by Adam Signore
EP inner photo by Carissa Johnson
Jacket design by Adam Sherman
All songs by Adam Sherman ©2025 Haddon Road Music ASCAP
‘Gratitude’ single artwork:
Musicians appearing on the ‘Nowhere But Here’ EP:
Adam Sherman: Vocals, acoustic guitar
Robin Lane: Vocals
Jon Evans: Bass, lap steel, percussion
Mark Usher: Guitar
Matthew Hutchinson: Piano, organ
Matthias Bossi: Drums
Dorothea Samaha: Violin
Eve Samaha: Cello
Adam Sherman bio:
In the good times and the bad, Adam Sherman never lost his spark –- for songwriting, for collaborating, or for bringing people together through music.
The veteran musician and lyricist, who first made his name in the Boston music scene nearly 50 years ago, has bridged the decades with a straight-line of creativity, a calm demeanor, and a cool factor that extends beyond casual. From his early days in the fertile New England music scene with bands like Private Lightning and The Souls to his modern-day solo output and recent guitarwork for the resurrected Nervous Eaters, the sharply-dressed Sherman has been a steady figure in the northeast, with six nominations for various Boston Music Awards and the ability to play any stage, any where.
Now, Sherman readies a new EP, Nowhere But Here, on March 28 via Hadden Road Music. Led by the singles “Pure As Yours” and “Gratitude” and featuring harmony vocals by fellow scene icon Robin Lane, the record gets the proper release party treatment at Club Passim on March 29, the day after the EP hits the streams and brick-and-mortar CD racks.
But to understand Sherman’s creative headspace in 2025, one must rewind the story back to the start.
Sherman first learned to play guitar when he was eight years old after seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. Soon after that historic moment in pop culture, he had his first electric guitar, learning songs by the British Invasion rock groups and folk artists like Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. When high school began, the New York native turned out to be the only kid willing to sing in a band, so he quickly, as a teenager with a hunger for music and the arts, became accustomed to singing on stage and performing in public.
A lifelong passion would form, and Sherman would go on to play and sing as much as he could. Soon the confines of suburban life led him to leave New York for Boston’s vibrant music scene, and in 1980 co-founded the rock band Private Lightning, leading to a recording contract with A&M Records. Private Lightning would produce two hit singles, “Physical Speed” and “Song of the Kite.” During this period, Sherman began to study with Boston voice teacher Merrill Shea, working with him for three years to develop his confidence and approach.
After Private Lightning split, he formed The Souls to put the focus back on his songwriting. The band’s rock anthem “Shoot for the Moon” was nominated for a Boston Music Award for Best Song.
After eight years of playing clubs with The Souls, Sherman decided it was time for a break from the music business and began to focus on his other love of painting. While painting, he listened to jazz and slowly began to wonder if he could sing jazz standards, gravitating to the work of Chet Baker and experimenting with various vocal styles. In 2014, he wrote the song “January, February” with a jazzy, Baker-inspired feel, and the composition was brought to visual life via a Jeff Hudson music video. Around this time, Sherman released his first critically acclaimed solo album in Songbird.
An interest in jazz singing inspired him to attend a jazz vocal master class led by sought-after performer and teacher Shawnn Montiero, who taught him invaluable lessons about performing and finding his own voice. Sherman felt he had gained enough knowledge to share with young musicians and started teaching voice at his own studio, Voice Lessons Cambridge, where he has been teaching for the past 12 years.
Through the years, rock and roll never vacated Sherman’s spaces, and in 2018 he began writing songs that would become his sophomore solo album River of Dreams. He formed the Adam Sherman Band and released the album with a celebratory performance at the Cloud Club in Boston.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Sherman found that rather than being shut down creatively, he was inspired to write new music. “Hope,” written during the first days of lockdown, is a plea for strength during dark days. “Justice Lies” is a response to the murder of George Floyd. Both songs formed the core of Sherman’s third solo album, 2021’s Triangle Sky. As the pandemic wore on a small group of musicians began to meet socially on Zoom. The desire to make music together led to the formation of Back Porch Carousel, a collective that would host monthly livestream shows on Facebook and go on to record and release five singles, all completed remotely, that can still be heard on all major streaming services.
With a new EP on the horizon, as well as a successful Sunday matinee monthly at The Plough & Stars in Cambridge, Sherman’s spark shows no signs of fading. Creativity keeps him going, and from those first transformative moments hearing The Beatles to now releasing his most buoyant and self-assured batch of songs more than 60 years later, the one constant in Sherman’s life has been music. It’s at the core of his spark, still burning bright.
Media praise for Adam Sherman:
“Always a questing artist, Adam takes another exciting step in a career that has produced local legends Private Lightning and The Souls. It’s great to have him back!”
_Carter Alan, WZLX
“Adam Sherman makes music that is subtle poetry. His gentle vocal melodies and carefully shaded lyrics echo maturity and grace; his arrangements a sensibility that extends from the coffee-house to the jazz loft and the West Bank. Plus, all the playing on Songbird is note-perfect. A lovely, well-crafted debut.”
_Ted Drozdowski, The Phoenix
“Tasty folk-jazz — music for the sheer joy of it and a welcome change of pace.”
_Steve Morse, The Boston Globe
“Adam plays a mix of funk, jazz, and blues. When I hear him, I hear Van Morrison, Mose Allison, and Kenny Rankin. That’s a powerful combination, and to find it all in one artist is really a gift.”
_Fred Taylor, Scullers and Jazz Workshop Entertainment Director
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