Much like one of his other favorite pastimes in surfing, the musical journey for Australian singer/songwriter Josh Barker and his band Longreef has involved lots of courage, patience, determination and risk.

“You just don’t know where it’s going to take you, and it’s always a surprise,” Barker said of the comparison between riding the waves and life. “But it’s such a good feeling out there having this energy push you from behind and take you where you don’t know where you’re going, so I definitely think that that has a huge influence on my perspective of being a songwriter, also.

“It’s where I find a lot of clarity and a lot of good ideas.”

Longreef is (from left) Nick Miller, Josh Barker, Aaron Carruthers and Jim Wark. Photo by Dave Barnes

Composed of Barker (vocals/guitar), Nick Miller (guitar), Aaron Carruthers (drums) and Jim Wark (bass), Longreef will perform at Bar 145 on June 16 as part of its summer tour in support of the band’s second EP, “Dirty Motel,” which is scheduled for release on June 12. The show is the first of three at Bar 145 and one of 12 Ohio dates Longreef has slated in the coming months.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Barker said. “We think the music’s definitely progressed even just in the one year that it’s been since [2011’s self-titled EP]. I think that doing 180 shows last year — you know, grueling touring — actually a lot of that travel, the hard times and the energy really came out on the new EP.

“So I think you’ll definitely hear a difference from the poppier EP of last year’s ‘Longreef’ to the new, rockier, dirtier sound in ‘Dirty Motel.’ ”

The excitement Longreef is experiencing now is much different compared to where things stood four years ago for Barker, Miller and Carruthers. Prior to Longreef, the trio spent approximately six years in the band Inakin, based in its native Australia, and dissipated in 2008.

“As some bands do, we had a falling out with our bass player and it kind of all went to crap,” Barker said. “So it was time to reassess.”

For Barker, that reassessing meant heading to Los Angeles, having never been to the U.S. before.

“I was completely alone,” Barker recalled. “I got off the plane, had never driven on the other side of the road. I didn’t know where I was going and rented myself a car and nearly got killed on the freeway going into Hollywood. It was quite an experience.”

The experience improved as Barker began co-writing with the likes of Matt Scannell (Vertical Horizon) and Carmen Rizzo (Alanis Morissette, Seal, Coldplay). He eventually relocated to Nashville, where he recorded an album’s worth of material with the help of Longreef manager Steve Forde, 3 Doors Down guitarist Chris Henderson and Alissa Moreno (Rascal Flatts).

“The moment we finished recording, I was just like, ‘Wow. We really need to get out and start playing this stuff live,’ ” Barker said.

After the rest of the band was able to make it over to the States about two-and-half-years ago, Longreef has been able to share the stage with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Bush, 30 Seconds to Mars and Seether, among others.

On its journey, Longreef’s music has also caught the attention of some major labels and players in the music industry. The single “Lonely” off last year’s self-titled EP went to No. 33 on the Billboard R&R Indicator chart as the band continued to gain more fans, including Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger.

“He actually invited us out to Atlanta,” Barker said of Kroeger. “I think that was just after we recorded the record. He and my manager were talking quite a lot, and he was a huge fan — still is a huge fan — of the music. We’re just trying to work out when we could get together and actually do something together.”

While Barker said Longreef has had conversations with major labels, he added that right now there is a great team of people around the band, which will put out “Dirty Motel” on its own like the self-titled EP as it continues to build a name in the U.S.

“I think the people here, they’re just so into having a good time,” Barker said of touring the states. “I think the whole Australian thing must change up the perception of us a little bit because, like I said, everywhere we seem to go they seem to love us.

“Maybe it’s the music. Maybe it’s the accents. Or maybe it’s a combination of the both, I’m hoping.”

• On June 16 Longreef will perform at Bar 145, located at 5305 Monroe St. The band is expected to go on between 10 and 10:30 p.m. and there will be a $5 cover charge at the door. For more information, visit bar-145.com or call (419) 593-0073.

Tags: Aaron Carruthers, Australia, Jim Wark, Josh Barker, Longreef, Mike Bauman, Nick Miller, “Dirty Motel”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Arts and Life, In Concert, Music.
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As his family and friends ring in the New Year in Ohio, recent University of Toledo graduate William Adamiak will be en route to the other side of the world.

The 24-year-old from Perrysburg leaves for Australia on New Year’s Eve to serve for a year with NET (National Evangelization Teams) Ministries, a Catholic peer-to-peer mission organization.

To help fund the trip, Adamiak organized a benefit concert, set for 7 p.m. Dec. 29 at UT’s Corpus Christi University Parish (CCUP), located on Dorr Street across from UT. Adamiak will play violin and Luke Rosen, music director at CCUP, will accompany him on piano.

William Adamiak

The concert will also feature Charlotte Mariasy, music director at Perrysburg’s St. Rose Catholic Church, on piano; St. Rose members Kim Wolf on viola and singer Ashley Gibel; Perrysburg High School student Brooke Wiland on violin; and Adamiak’s sister Isabella Aramaic on cello. Rosen will perform a piece he composed for the event, and Rosen and Adamiak also plan to improvise one piece.

“The music is going to be incredibly varied for the small group that we have,” Adamiak said. “I just want to pack the house. I don’t really care if nobody donates. I’m doing this kind of as my last hurrah and to get all the people I know and care to all meet together in one place and enjoy some good music. It started out as a donation thing, but right now it’s just a come-and-enjoy-some-nice-music thing.”

A free-will offering will be collected. Rosen will also be selling “Portraits,” his solo CD of improvisational piano music, for $12, with a portion to be donated to Adamiak’s trip.

Rosen said Adamiak, who graduated from UT in May with a degree in bioengineering, is a talented musician.

“He’s just a really versatile player,” Rosen said. “The thing I really like about Will is, yes, he has all the technical stuff down; he can play anything, but so can a robot. The thing I love about playing with Will is he feels it so much and puts so much of himself in it. He’s also sort of fearless. He’s willing to make things up on the spot and just kind of go for it, which is great.”

Rosen said he has no doubt Adamiak will be a good fit with NET Ministries.

“Will’s always had a really strong faith life,” Rosen said. “He’s just generally one of the nicest people you could ever meet. His heart is always in the right place. I think he’s been looking to do something like this and hasn’t been able to find the right thing until now. So he’s excited and I think this will be a good fit for him.”

NET team members, who range in age from 17 to 30, are stationed in the United States, Canada, Ireland and Australia and share their faith with teenagers through retreats, workshops and leadership training seminars.

“They are looking for somebody to evangelize to teens — not just someone with spin polish, but someone who lives what they are going to be preaching,” Adamiak said. “When they asked me questions, they went deep. They asked about my faith, the history of my church, the sacraments I believe in, my beliefs, my sins, everything. I didn’t hold anything back.”

The year will start with a six-week training program in Brisbane followed by assignments. Some members will be stationed in one community for a year, while others will serve in multiple locations. Adamiak is hoping to be on a travelling team so he gets to see more of the country.

Adamiak, who speaks Portuguese and Spanish, was born in Brazil to a Brazilian father and an American mother who met in Poland. He moved to the U.S. when he was 12 and suspects the travel bug might be hereditary.

“I think it’s kind of in the genes me wanting to travel all over the place because they were big travelers when they were younger,” Adamiak said. “I’ve wanted to travel to a lot of places and Australia is about as far as you can get. It’ll be exciting.”

Adamiak’s interest in service was nurtured by a four-year scholarship program at UT called the Christian Leadership Program.

“It’s teaching you to take your Catholic faith and use it in a leadership role,” Adamiak said. “That’s what really drove me to start doing more missions, more service trips.”

Another major formative experience was a recent trip to Spain, where he walked a portion of a famous medieval pilgrimage route in northwestern Spain called El Camino de Santiago, or St. James’ Way. The 160-kilometer journey took him 12 days.

“That was an incredible experience, one I’ll definitely share at NET,” Adamiak said. “I enjoyed every experience, especially the pain, because it’s all a part of the journey.

“I like not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow. Who are we to even say that tomorrow will happen? You can’t change what happened and you don’t know what will happen; all you can do is make the best of what you have right now.

“We’re all kind of chained down by society, by jobs, the places where we are. Why not take a leap of faith and say ‘I want to go do this?’ You can do it, and God will provide. I’ve never been really too worried about that.”

For more information, visit www.netministries.com.au.

Tags: Australia, University of Toledo, William Adamiak

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 at 8:44 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Music.
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