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It was July of 1997, with Gene’s blessing and personal stamp of approval, Eden Z Films began work on a low-fi indie documentary with no budget and no real time line. Todd & Lorrie Zeller were just a couple of Adam Again fans who happened to be in the right place at the right time, and that was oddly enough, Eugene, Oregon. Zeller and Greg Lawless had become friends, as Lawless had been living in Cottage Grove, Oregon and still resides their today along with fellow artists, Richard Swift and Chris Colbert.

Gene & Greg invited Eden Z to shoot the rehearsals for Cornerstone 97 in Cottage Grove. Gene flew in from Huntington Beach and Jonny Knox flew in from Nashville. With Greg on guitar and a guest appearance from Keith Schieder on bass, the Cottage Grove Community Center had never sounded so alive as it did for a couple of long Oregon summer days as the legendary underground band Adam Again ran through some of their best songs. Many hours of Hi-8 video and B & W Super 8 Movie film was shot, then later that same summer, just after their incredible Cornerstone performance, Eden Z went to the legendary Green Room to document rough songwriting for the new Adam Again record that Gene and the band had been wanting to work on ever since Perfecta….

One more chance to film came in 99 when Gene decided to accompany Mike Knott on a handful of show dates. First stop was Eugene, Oregon with Gene and Greg opening the show performing “Dig” and “Stone,” and Gene backing up his longtime friend Mike Knott on the Rhodes piano. Another show in Portland, Oregon was filmed, that was the last time Gene and Greg performed together as Adam Again before Genes untimely death in 2000.

Of course with Gene’s passing came the need for a different direction for the Worldwide film. Eden Z has collected around fifty interviews with Gene’s friends and comrades. After a few false starts and rough cut edits, the film is still on the shelf due to lack of funding, as well as hurdles in securing licensing for Gene and Adam Again’s music for the film. Since Zeller runs a full time production studio, most hours are spent on projects that pay the bills. That said, Zeller is a huge fan of Adam Again as well as all of Genes music and side bands. This film is a near and dear labor of love. 2009 has opened up new doors of opportunity to complete the film, as well as the involvement of other artists and individuals.

Look for www.adamagain.com to finally launch this season along with updates on the films progress. Thanks for your patience and keeping the music and memory of Gene alive. As you have read from the stories above, I’m sure he would be humbled…

www.myspace.com/edenzfilms
www.myspace.com/adamagain
www.adamagain.com (coming soon)

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Gene Eugene had that unique gift as a writer. He could pen songs that you instantly understood at one level, and then realized that there was a whole other level you were probably missing. Even songs about the electricity getting cut off before a bunch a friends came over made you stop and wonder “am I missing some deeper point about the depravity of man?” Maybe it was just that voice – that mournful tone of his. Maybe I was just reading too much into it. Then someone sent me a bootleg concert where Gene sung his version of the Dolly Parton song (made famous by Whitney Houston) “I Will Always Love You.” I thought that was a simple love song, until Gene pointed out that there was some deep stuff there. So maybe I’m not just reading too much into any of his songs.

And not to mention how they stick in your head. Every time it starts raining I start humming one of those two songs about rain in my head. One when it is a light, refreshing spring storm, and the other when it is a dark, brooding thunderstorm. If you have heard both songs about rain mentioned above, then you probably know which one comes to mind in which situation.

I even got to the point where I thought that there are some rain storms where you can walk between the raindrops if you try. Then I got caught in a monsoon rain in India… a wall of water falling on you from the sky. And that song came to mind. Yet another layer of that simple lyric became real to me.

I never met Gene, but I get the impression that he was all about layers. I’ve read several interviews with friends of his that attest to the fact that no one quite knew the same Gene. He revealed different aspects of himself to different people, as Steve Hindalong pointed out once. Mostly this magazine issue has covered feedback from people that knew and worked with Gene. But the other side of the coin is Gene’s fans. Each one of knows a different layer of Gene, revealed through his deep and personal lyrics. Personal in how we all interpret them as much as how they gave us a glimpse into Gene’s personal life.

Maybe you never had to deal with the electricity going out, but you have had to deal with the frustration of something going wrong and getting in the way of some plans. It just crawls under your skin that you are out of control of so many things in life. And for some reason, Gene covers that and so much more when he says “all my friends are coming over.”

Really? The non-fan might ask. “That line doesn’t say anything about any of that.” It’s not in what he says; it’s in the tone and inflection of how he says it. I’ve listened to entire albums that technically said less than that one line communicated.

Sadly, that voice, that wordsmith is gone… leaving us only five albums worth of material to dig through. There is enough there in those five albums to last a lifetime, but we also wanted more. It is what it is what is. Perfecta and leaving us craving more all at the same time.

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ADAM AGAIN
LIVE AT CORNERSTONE

There are two versions of this live tribute show floating around out there – both pretty much out of print. The original version was released by M8 records as a three disc set. It included live sets from 1995 and 1997 as well as the 2000 Cornerstone tribute show. The 2001 Galaxy 21 re-issue (pictured on the left) doesn’t have the live shows from the 90s, but it does have a new track from Riki Michele and a bonus disc from Greg Lawless – his first solo album. The re-issue is much easier to find. Both have the live tribute concert that featured a who’s who of Alternative music singing Gene’s parts of classic Adam Again tunes. I was at this concert when it happened. It was a powerful night. There is really just no way to capture what was experienced in person that night. Emotions were high, understandably. Cornerstone was it’s usual hot, humid, muddy self… and this concert was late at night. But none of that stopped anyone from enjoying a great concert. This quality of the CD is really good, seeing that they had planned to record the show from the beginning. If you can hunt down the original M8 version, I would highly recommend it – that version contains some touching stories at the end from different friends of Gene. However, the re-issue is the better deal in my opinion, due to the new material it contains from Riki Michele and Greg Lawless. All of the new songs are totally different style-wise from than anything Adam Again ever did, but still solid music compositions all around.

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ADAM AGAIN
PERFECTA

Perfecta is the rawest and (at times) loudest Adam Again disc. One reviewer even called it “the book of Job of music.” This would be a very apt description. Gene’s voice is pretty desperate at places here – whether he is asking himself what to do when the electricity goes out at his studio or expressing his sorrow over the main pains of life. There is still humor to be found scattered throughout the album. In “Harsh,” you can hear a hint of sarcastic laughter when he sings “now be a dear and leave me alone.””He is basically telling someone to go away… but he also finds something funny in the way he says it.

Heavy on Gene’s heart at the time of this album was his recent divorce, but that is not all. Themes of loss slip in to many of the songs on the album. Much of the carefully crafted word play from Dig is gone, but the lyrics here are still deep and confessional even if they aren’t twisting your tongue at the same time.

Perfecta was said to have been recorded live in the studio, during what Gene referred to as a “three-year jam session.” That would probably be the best way to describe the whole album – an intense jam recorded while all the players involved were living and/or discussing some of the harder parts of life.

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ADAM AGAIN
DIG

This is where it started for me with Adam Again… the first album of theirs that I ever heard. This album, along with L.S.U.’s The Grape Prophet and Pray Naked by The 77s, also helped me transition from a diehard metal-head punk to a person with well-rounded musical tastes. Something about those guitar tones just really connected with me, but it was the well-crafted lyrics and excellent song structures that kept bringing me back time and time again. This is still the classic Adam Again album that I recommend as a starting point for anyone that is not familiar with the band.

And this really is a band effort where everyone shines. As a bass player, I have to point out the excellent bass lines from Paul Valdez that are everywhere. But lets not forget the skillful six-string work of Greg Lawless and Gene Eugene. Gene’s voice is it’s classic mournful self here, contrasted nicely by Riki Michele. Jon Knox also continues his solid drum work on his second album with the band.

As many friends of Gene have said, he agonized over the lyrics. He never wanted to have throw away lyrics. The lyrics on this album are just packed full of meaning, if you care to dig in (pun not intended). The first song tells you what to expect from the get-go: “Deep.” I can’t pick out a favorite song, because I love them all; nor can I point out any weak songs – because there isn’t one at all. You can find it for a few dollars on Amazon.com for now… but I’m voting for a re-issue… if anyone out there is keeping score….

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ADAM AGAIN
HOMEBOYS

This is one of my favorite records that Adam Again did. With each release these guys grew as a band and you can hear the depth come through on every release. Again, for me, Gene’s lyrics were always genius. The songs that he chose to cover really conveyed a message and a theme that one typically did not hear anyone else tackling in the Christian scene at the time. The cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” is amazing. “Homeboys,” the title track, is a reflection of Gene’s youth and where he grew up, but there is also a undercurrent that always speaks to me of racial equality in that song. “Bad News on the Radio” is one of the most descriptive stories that conveys emotion and really drives it home to the listener… I have always thought that track was unparalleled. Riki Michele, Steve Hindalong and Terry Taylor also contributed lyrics here, as well as the band welcoming Jon Knox on the drums. “This Band Is Our House” speaks to the cohesiveness of the band and how they were a family… “No Regrets” is really haunting at this point, a very final and sad way to close out the record. Musically the band sounds very tight and together. Dan Michael’s sax playing was always so unique to the band, and gave them a flavor unlike any other groups that were out there. All in all, one of the best releases (in my opinion), and a sort of guide for the direction that the band was heading.

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ADAM AGAIN
TEN SONGS

Ten Songs was originally released in 1988, and then re-released in 2002 through Lo-Fidelity Records. A definite classic that is probably the hardest to find anywhere. While still recorded with programmed drums, this record was a definite step away from their first release. Ten songs just sounds much more cohesive to me. This is where I think Gene’s lyrics really started to come into their own and shine. While still “Christian” in perspective and reflection, themes here include equality, honesty, consequence and longing. I think this record is where Greg’s guitar playing really starts to come to the front and have a chance to shine as well. My favorite thing about this album was that lyrics like these were truly unique at this point in the Christian music scene. Gene had the ability to really challenge the listener and make them think. A definite ‘alternative’ release. Good luck finding this one if you don’t already have it. Sometimes you can find the cassette on eBay, and if you do, snatch it up and just convert it to digital.

“Today if I called you
Would you tell me I’m wrong,
With the way I’ve come to believe
Will I ever belong ?”… “Eyes Wide Open”

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(continued from part 1)

Gene in Little League Graduation photo

Gene’s first car Senior picture

Early live shots, band and date unknown.

Gene with his brother Todd

Gene’s sister Lisa

Gene practicing, date unknown.

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ADAM AGAIN
IN A NEW WOLD OF TIME

The first release by the band who would become a staple in alternative Christian music. This is by far the most varied record that AA put out. Dating all the way back to 1986… but it was still unique and different for its time. This one is chock full of every genre you can imagine… R&B, rock, funk, soul and pop. The band sounds bright, fluid and full of life. To me Gene’s voice sounds a bit different then the other recordings that came later. This one would also be the most “Christian” release that they did with the majority of the songs centered on Christ or biblical issues. I’m not saying that the other releases are not “Christian,” this one is just more overt in that sense. Also, the cover art was done by the amazing, and now deceased, folk artist Howard Finister. If you don’t have this one it is still available through The Choir’s website as a download – www.thechoir.net – This is the only release that I know of that is still available outside of places like eBay, but you should also keep an eye on eBay as you can generally find it on CD and vinyl. The programmed drums here also give this a very ‘80’s feel. A worthy first offering by a band that still stands apart from the crowd.

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