Adam Cohen (musician)

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Adam Cohen


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Background = solo_singer
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Born = birth year and age|1972
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Instrument = Vocals, guitar, keyboards
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Genre = Rock
Occupation = Singer-songwriter
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Associated_acts = Low Millions
URL = [http://www.adamcohen.com adamcohen.com]
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Adam Cohen (born 1972) is a Canadian musician, the singer-songwriter of Low Millions, as well as a solo artist who has released albums in both English and French. He is the son of Leonard Cohen.

Early life

Adam Cohen was born in Montreal, but spent many years of his childhood living with his American expat mother, Suzanne Elrod, in Paris and in the south of France, after his parents separated.cite news| last =Farber| first =Jim| title =Birth of a ladies' man: Singer-songwriter Adam Cohen is proud to be a chip off the old block| page =16| publisher ="New York Daily News"| date =2005-01-16| ] cite news| last =Kelly| first =Brendan| title =Adam Cohen following in famous father's footsteps| page =1| publisher =CanWest News Service| date =2004-05-26| ] He spent parts of his childhood on the Greek island Hydra, in Greenwich Village, and in Los Angeles. [cite news| last =Takiff| first =Jonathan| title =Versatile Adam Cohen readies albums: One, in his name, will be in French; the other is called 'Ex-Girlfriends'| page =69| publisher ="Philadelphia Daily News"| date =2004-09-24| ] He taught himself to play guitar, drums and piano by age 12. He worked as a roadie in 1990, and studied international relations at Syracuse University. He moved to Los Angeles in 1994 to focus on his music career. [cite journal| last = no byline| first = | authorlink = | title = Son comes up| journal = People Weekly| volume = 50| issue = 11| pages = 94| publisher = | location = | date = 1998-09-28| url = | doi = | id = | accessdate = ]

Career

He was signed by Columbia Records in 1996. He achieved some success as a songwriter for other artists. He co-wrote "Lullaby in Blue", a song about a woman who gave up a child for adoption. Bette Midler recorded it for her album "Bathhouse Betty" and described it as her favorite on the album: "I've never heard a pop song about a person who gives their child up and is missing the child... The first time I heard that song, I burst into tears." [cite journal| last = Newman| first =Melinda | authorlink = | title = Midler makes Warner Bros. debut with 'Bathhouse Betty'| journal = Billboard| volume = 110| issue = 36| pages = 15–16| publisher = | location = | date = 1998-09-05| url = | doi = | id = | accessdate = ]

His 1998 debut album was well-regarded critically—Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" called it "grimly perceptive" and "a promising beginning" [cite news| last =Holden| first =Stephen| title =New pop music for middle age| page =E1| publisher ="The New York Times"| date =1998-11-27| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03E7D61539F934A15752C1A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | accessdate =2008-04-10 ] —but did not do well commercially.

He decided to focus on French-language material and was signed to Capitol Records Canada, which released "Mélancolista". Representatives from the label inquired about English-language material, and soon after he traveled to New York to meet with executives from Manhattan Records. He was signed to a deal after 15 minutes of a solo acoustic performance; the deal lead to the Low Millions project. [cite news| last =Hochman| first =Steve| title =Pop eye: Adam Cohen's 'divide and conquer' strategy| page =E46| publisher ="Los Angeles Times"| date =2004-08-01| ]

Regarding the influence from his poet-balladeer father, Cohen has said, "He's tremendously helpful. Forget that I was his son. I was tutored in lyric-writing by Leonard Cohen and I had his sensibilities to draw upon. And I'm not just talking genetically. I could literally talk to the cat and he could lean over my notebook and point to a couple of phrases and say, 'These are strong, these are weak.' How can that be of anything but incredible benefit? Now add in the fact that he's my father and you have a really lovely scenario." In addition to his father, he has said that his musical influences include Randy Newman, Peter Gabriel, and U2.cite news| last =Gold| first =Kerry| title =The second coming of Adam Cohen| page =D1| publisher ="The Vancouver Sun"| date =2005-02-26| ] He has characterized his French-language work as musically distinct from his English recordings, the former being more "sumptuous and cinematic", and sounding like "Sade—if she were a Frenchman".

The songs he wrote for "Ex-Girlfriends" are about actual ex-girlfriends of his, using their real names.

Discography

* "Adam Cohen", 1998
* "Ex-Girlfriends" with Low Millions, 2004
* "Mélancolista", 2004 (French-language music CD)

References

External links

* [http://www.adamcohen.com/ Adam Cohen] official site
* [http://www.lowmillions.com/ Low Millions] official site
* [http://www.myspace.com/lowmillions Low Millions] on MySpace