Adam Paddock sings the national anthem before a Columbus Crew game at Lower.com Field Oct. 16, 2021. He is set to perform at A&R Music Bar Feb. 25. Credit: Courtesy of Anna Nguyen
Opening a concert for Waka Flocka Flame and MAX may be a tough act to follow, but one Ohio State student has his sights set high.
Adam Paddock, a fourth-year in strategic communication and alternative chamber pop musician, is co-headlining a show Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. with indie pop group Telehope at A&R Music Bar, located at 391 Neil Ave. The show was originally scheduled to be held at The Basement, but enough tickets were sold to upgrade the venue to the A&R Music Bar.
Paddock’s name may sound familiar to some Ohio State students, as he was an opening act for the Ohio Union Activities Board Welcome Back Concert at Express Live! in September 2021.
“That Express show was monumental in terms of getting me where I am now,” Paddock said. “That show really gave me more confidence that I didn’t know I lacked.”
Following the concert, Paddock said he was invited to perform the national anthem before a Columbus Crew game at Lower.com Field in October 2021, as well as at the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament semifinals that December.
Although getting his name out was an important part of the experience for Paddock, he said performing at Express Live! also helped him feel more secure in his passion for music.
“When I was on stage, I really felt like this is what I’m meant to be doing,” Paddock said. “And that’s so cliche, but when I was on there, I was like, this is the thing.”
Paddock said he started making music in fifth grade and played the trumpet and baritone horn all throughout high school. He learned how to play guitar and piano along the way, but said it wasn’t until he received advice from friends in his high school show choir that he gave singing a try.
Paddock said the show choir, Loveland By Request, is considered one of the best of its kind in the country. He said he ended up landing the role of male soloist and has been singing ever since.
“I went from never singing to essentially being thrown into, like, the top level of it,” Paddock said.
Paddock said his current discography — which is available on Spotify and Apple Music — is positive and uplifting but also deliberately diverse to fit a variety of settings.
“I want there to be music that is meant to be played at an arena in a stadium, and I want there to be music that can make you feel something if it’s literally you, me and a couple of friends sitting with an acoustic guitar,” Paddock said.
Max Lew & The Midwest Experience, a band made up of Ohio State students — Max Lew, a second-year in marketing, Auden Stevenson, a third-year in music, and Simon Grome, a second-year in computer and information science — will open the performance. Lew, lead singer and guitarist for the group, said he and Paddock have known each other for a year and met on campus.
“He was actually my RA last year,” Lew said. “It was like my third day on campus. I walked down the hall and this dude’s door was completely open, not even cracked open, and he was playing music.”
From there, the two struck a chord, and over the course of the next year, Paddock would reach out for his feedback to tweak aspects of his unreleased songs, Lew said.
“He and I, our styles are so different, yet he does a great job of meeting me where I want to be, and I do the same with him,” Paddock said.
Paddock said he is proud to be taking the stage with Lew and fellow Ohio State musicians.
“The collaborative process on campus is so interesting,” Paddock said. “It’s so tight-knit, everybody’s kind of dedicated. We have such a good culture around here that we can have an opener and a headliner all be students.”
Anna Nguyen, a fourth-year in pharmaceutical sciences, is a videographer and has documented Paddock’s musical journey since the two met at Ohio State. Over the course of working with Paddock, Nguyen said she has witnessed his growth as an artist firsthand.
“I think that he’s become a phenomenal performer,” Nguyen said. “I’ve just seen him grow musically, like, I can see where his music is shifting direction, and he’s just way more proud of the things he’s making.”
Tickets to Paddock’s performance at A&R Music Bar are $15 and can be purchased through PromoWest’s website.
