The Adam Ezra Group will perform at 10 p.m. Oct. 12 at Kimball's Pub, 972 Second St. Calling Boston their homebase, the Adam Ezra Group includes Adam Ezra, Turtle, Josh Gold, Alex Martin and Nelson Leong.
Ezra, the group's namesake, started playing on his own 12 years ago. After meeting Turtle, the group grew to what it is today.
"My mom is a folk musician, so I always grew up around music," he said. "It was always something that connected with me more than anything else in the world." During college, Ezra said he traveled a lot and taught himself to play guitar. "When I finished, I said to myself, 'This is something I want to devote my life to, for better or worse.' "
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The Adam Ezra Group will perform at 10 p.m. Oct. 12 at Kimball’s Pub, 972 Second St.
Although the group is not signed to a label, they did produce their last album, "Ragtop Angel," on an indie label called "Royal Avenue." "Ragtop Angel" earned the group several awards, including the New England Music Awards for Album of the Year.
"That totally blew us away. As an independent band, to have people recognize the stuff we're doing on a bigger scale, that was super exciting for us. We've been nominated before but we never expected to win," Ezra said.
The group had the privilege of working a producer that worked with The Fray, but they also missed the raw feeling of their music.
"We have this other side," Ezra said, "It's a place where I come from, this folk, acoustic side. So we went to the Catskills, locked ourselves in a cabin and we hit record."
Through this adventure, "Daniel the Brave" was born. The upcoming release features a raw, live sound. "A lot of them have stories behind them," Ezra said.
The group also likes to give back to the community - they created RallySound, a non-profit organization that helps people put together charity events that involve live music.
"Over the last six or seven years, we've been devoting a ton of our touring to charity work. It's been something that's made us happy," Ezra said. "It's nice to high-five back with music. A year ago, I gathered together a board and staff and started the RallySound.".
RallySound has been involved in many different fundraisers, including ones with the American Heart Association. Ezra said it has helped them network with other bands as well.
The Adam Ezra Group hosts their own fundraiser every year, called The Ramble, which raises money for a different cause every year, with this past year raising funds to rebuild a park in Boston that had been overrun by gangs.
The group has even had the chance to perform with big name acts, including Gavin DeGraw, Ziggy Marley, Little Feet and Rusted Root.
Playing live is one of the bands favorite things. "I've always been inspired by live concerts because I feel like music has the ability to connect people in a powerful way. I love that you can play so many different shows and environments. Music connects people, that's something that's really inspiring to me. Playing live is being able to be a catalyst to that," Ezra said.
For their upcoming performance at Kimball's, Ezra said the audience can expect a variety of stuff. "We'll play stuff that people will dance to and we'll play some stuff where we unplug. I tend to get bored when I go to see bands, so we try and mix it up a lot.," he said. For more information on The Adam Ezra Group, visit www.adamezra.com or www.facebook. com/adamezragroup.
