You can never accuse Adam Galblum of being stuck in one genre of music. The versatile and accomplished musician — with a classical music background — specializes in jazz violin and bluegrass fiddling.
It should come as no surprise then that Galblum’s latest endeavor took a slight detour and entered the realm of pop music — while still keeping to what he knows.
Galblum, who grew up in Prairie Village and graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School in 1997, released the instrumental “Down to the Wire: The Stringband Tribute to the Music of John Mayer” in June.
Galblum arranged the music for all 10 of the Mayer songs on “Down to the Wire” and played violin, guitar and mandolin for the album. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}He also developed additional parts for upright bass, dobro and banjo played by members of the Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon and Punch Brothers, top names in the alternative string music industry.
“I felt I wanted to make a record that I could play those instruments on,” said Galblum, who studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston for 1 ½ years.
The inspiration came when Galblum and his girlfriend were listening to John Mayer music while on a midnight drive in New Mexico on New Year’s Eve. By the time they arrived home in Denver, Colorado, Galblum had the track list, musicians, album title and feel of the record figured out.
“You can re-package anybody’s music if you do it in a tasteful and thoughtful way,” he said.
Mayer himself has experimented with different genres of music, including pop, blues, folk and folk-rock and is performing with the Grateful Dead this fall and winter.
“It speaks to the range he has,” said Galblum, who lived in Colorado for almost 10 years before moving back to Kansas City at the beginning of 2015.
The 36-year-old Galblum doesn’t limit his listening to any one type of music either, and he enjoys Mayer’s music and his approach.
“There’s a depth and texture to his music that you don’t hear in other pop music,” Galblum said of Mayer.
“Down to the Wire” was recorded at eTown Hall Studio in Boulder, Colorado, in 2014. Each of the instruments on the album was recorded separately (one instrument at a time), and most of the musicians recorded for two days each. The process required Galblum to wear a lot of different hats. He had a spreadsheet for each song that very specifically mapped out the sections of the song, and who played what, when.
“I’m not sure that was the most efficient way to do it, but it worked,” he said.
Although the project was a lot of work, Galblum said it was fun to do.
“I hope people get to hear it,” he said.
Galblum would like to do a second John Mayer tribute album, but he is considering doing a jazz violin CD featuring musicians from Kansas City for his next project.
A student of the late jazz violinist Claude Williams, Galblum wants to preserve jazz and get back to performing the genre himself.
For now, Galblum is promoting “Down to the Wire” and is planning to submit the project to Folk Alliance International for its 2016 conference in Kansas City. And he was privileged to play solo violin during High Holy Days services at Congregation Beth Shalom this year.
“It was very lovely, and I was proud to be there,” he said.
To purchase “Down to the Wire” on CD or to see Galblum’s performance schedule, visit adamgalblum.com. The album is also available on iTunes (Just search "galblum," then click "Adam Galblum" on the right side of the screen), CDbaby.com and amazon.com.
