August 2007, Eric Himan, established recording artist hailing from more states than most Americans get to travel, crosses paths with a brother and sister music duo born and raised in the hills of Northeastern Oklahoma. Upon moving to Tulsa and getting offered a local gig requiring a back-up band, Eric met the Adams duo (Jimmy Adams on bass and Angel Adams on drums) in Tulsa after performing at an open mic on the same night. They started performing locally and word caught on. Their audiences started filling up the clubs where they performed. When Market Days requested Eric’s presence at this year’s festival, he decided to bring the band out of Tulsa for its first gig up north to Chicago.

Eric, a ten year veteran in the music industry with 6 full-length albums under his belt, joins his experience and music with the Adams’ explosive creativity. After a year of rehearsal and scattered gigs (Austin’s SXSW, Chicago’s Market Days and Tulsa’s Pride Block Party), Eric and the Adams are ready to share their Indie Folk Rock originals, peppering them with cover songs – eclectically stretching from REM to Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and many more. As a solo acoustic artist, Eric has toured the country non-stop for the past five years building a grassroots audience the way many of his influences such as Ani DiFranco did. He released five studio cds adding RESONATE, his sixth cd, to the list this past May. Directly following this, he was nominated by MTV’s LOGO Channel “NewNowNext Awards”. This nomination has been one of many accolades received since the beginning of his career back in 2001 when he began touring the college circuit. He has appeared in the pages of OUT Magazine, The Advocate, Genre, Instinct, and Curve. He also has been featured in the Fender Guitars catalogue of which he has received an endorsement. The band’s first video, Little Boy Blue, was recently chosen for NewNowNext Top 10 Videos of 2008 show for MTV’s Logo Channel.

They just released their debut CD (available on iTunes, Rhapsody, and more) December of 2009. Past accomplishments include an invite to this past year’s Dfest Conference and Festival this summer (headlined by The Black Crowes) and 2010’s Red Gorilla Music Fest (alongside SXSW), Eric was named on a list of 40 under 40 LGBT pioneers in The Advocate (alongside Rachel Maddow and Milk’s writer, Dustin Lance Black), the band was named on Urban Tulsa Weekly’s Hot 100 in January 2010, and Eric has licensed songs to The Hills, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Real World, and more.

Eric Himan

Eric Himan grew up a military brat bouncing from New York to Hawaii and Florida. He attended college at Penn State University earning a degree in Psychology and pursuing music the first chance he could get.

Eric is ready for the world to see his rock music side but is a veteran in the singer/songwriter music world. Releasing six cds independently on his own label, Thumbcrown Records, he has toured the US and abroad for the last 9 years appearing on TV, radio, newspapers nationwide, and magazines such as The Advocate, Oklahoma Magazine, and more. He is endorsed by Fender Guitars and has even appeared in their catalogue.

Angel Adams
By day, she’s an art director and graphic artist. By night, her superhero persona is Drummer for Eric and the Adams. Born Angel Anne Adams in Claremore, OK…she’s the eldest of 4 artistic children to 2 equally talented parents. Spending many years traveling overseas serving with humanitarian aid and missionary organizations, she started that work at 14 years old and hasn’t stopped. “I LOVE to travel and love that I’ve been a part of helping in the lives of so many people. I did my very best to have at least one ‘Indiana Jones’ experience every trip I’ve been on…I have LOTS of stories to tell.”

She started playing the drums when she was 17 simply because a band needed a drummer. She sat down at a make shift drum set and started this great journey as a musician. Her influences are great in numbers but she can tell you that the one person who has inspired her more than any (funny enough) is Amy Grant. “She was the first woman I had ever seen take control of a stage, play guitar and sing and write her own songs.”, Angel says, “If I had never had that encounter, I don’t know where I’d be today.” “The music of the 60’s and 70’s have hugely impacted the way she absorbs and produces music. She and her brother, Jimmy Adams started writing songs and performing together about a year before they met Eric. Their differences in styles of music have made it fun to put together a sound that is unique only to them. Currently, she lives in Tulsa, OK with her incredibly supportive partner (and high school sweetheart) and their 5 (yes, 5) gigantic dogs.

Jimmy Adams

I play bass in the band Eric and the Adams. I’m married with 4 boys am currently attending college and run my own landscaping business. Born Jimmy Dean Adams, Jr. in Sapulpa, OK…the youngest of 4 kids AND the ONLY boy. So I was tortured many days by my older sisters who wanted to play “dress-up”. I spent most of my time outside building forts and climbing trees…which also could be translated into breaking a lot of bones. I’ve spent a lot of time in casts from trying to defy gravity. That same “kid” creeps in every now and then, showing up in our live performances. I love music. Every aspect of it. My influences would be bands like Sublime and Incubus…but there’s always room for everything else from Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani to Bach and Chopin.