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Alexander James Adams (born November 8, 1962) is an American singer, musician and songwriter in the Celtic and World music genres. He blends mythical, fantasy, and
traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
themes in performances, switching between
instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
fiddle and
song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
s accompanied by
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or oth ...
, and fiddle playing. He has also been an artist in the field of
filk music Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. Etymology and defin ...
and won multiple Pegasus awards. Adams performed as Heather Alexander for 25 years before beginning to tour as Alexander James Adams. Adams discusses his transition and career in this interview. His website refers to him as the "heir" to Heather Alexander, and continues to credit songs originally released as Heather Alexander under that name. The last public performance under the name Heather was at
OryCon Orycon is Portland, Oregon's annual science fiction/fantasy convention, held in November since 1979. Event history {, class="wikitable" width="100%" , - ! Event !! Dates !! Guests !! Attendance !! Notes , - , OryCon 0 , Nov 11, 1978 , No GOH ...
2006. His debut as Alexander James Adams was at Seattle's
Norwescon Norwescon is one of the largest regional science fiction and fantasy conventions in the United States. Located in SeaTac in Washington state, Norwescon has been running continuously since 1978. "Norwescon" was also the name of the 8th World Sc ...
30, on April 6, 2007.


Career


Mid 1980s - 2006

A native of
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, Alexander began performing original music in the mid-eighties for friends,
Renaissance fair A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...
s, and
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
conventions. Off Centaur Publications was recording performances at one convention and asked to include Alexander. This began an association where Alexander recorded for Off Centaur and later Firebird Arts and Music, primarily
work for hire A work made for hire (work for hire or WFH), in copyright law in the United States, is a work that is subject to copyright and is created by employees as part of their job or some limited types of works for which all parties agree in writing to th ...
. In the late 1980s Alexander co-founded the Celtic fusion rock band Phoenyx, which released one album, ''Keepers of the Flame''. The band disbanded in 1991 after achieving a high degree of local fame, and that album is no longer in print.For more information see th
Heatherlands.com page on the album
, including information from the album's press kit

; ttp://www.moremoose.com/discography.htm Mark Ungar's Discography
Cat Taylor Discography


.
Alexander returned to a solo career. Firebird Arts & Music produced a live album which did well enough to inspire Alexander to create a label (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) for the release ''
Wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering ...
'' 1994. Two live concert albums and several studio albums have followed.Discography on the official website, www.heatherlands.com
Alexander also moved to the Pacific Northwest, settling in
Banks, Oregon Banks is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States which is located in the Tualatin Valley. It is the southern anchor to the Banks–Vernonia State Trail, which is a long linear trail popular with bicyclists, hikers, and equestrians. Th ...
in 2002. In 2001, Alexander founded a new band, Uffington Horse, together with
Andrew Hare Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...
and Dan Ochipinti and continued to perform solo gigs between band appearances. In 2004, a limited run of the Uffington Horse promotional CD was offered to fans to help finance recording their first studio album, '' Enchantment'', published in 2004. In 2002, Alexander told ''
Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...
'' that "I tend to think of myself as a 'musical entertainer.' I sing, play, compose, and tell stories."


2007–present

In early 2007 Adams transitioned to male and since April 2007 has performed in many of the venues that he had formerly played as Heather Alexander. He has played with Uffington Horse and has also formed a new band, Tricky Pixie, with S.J. Tucker and Betsy Tinney. In summer 2007, the band released a recording of their first concert, ''Live!'', which is the earliest released recording of Adams' post-transition voice. Adams' first post-transition solo album, ''Cat & The Fiddle'', was entirely instrumental. ''Balance of Nature'', released in fall 2007, mixed a few of his older works (such as "Creature of the Wood") with new songs. In November 2007, Adams released the
Yule Yule, actually Yuletide ("Yule time") is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indi ...
album ''Wintertide'', featuring duets between Adams' and Heather Alexander's voices. As noted in Adams' interview in ''
Just Out ''Just Out'' was an LGBTQ publication in Portland, Oregon founded in 1983 by Jay Brown and Renee LaChance. It ceased publication as a semimonthly newspaper in December 2011. In February 2012, Glenn-Kipp Publishing, Inc purchased the Just Out bra ...
'', ''Wintertide'' is the first album with a series of these duets. ''A Familiar Promise'', released in July 2008, also includes duets between the voices.


Literary collaborations and references

Several of the Firebird Arts and Music albums include collaborations with
Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels include i ...
and inspired by the works of
Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name ...
. (See the discography below for more information.) The 2002 album ''Insh'Allah'' was inspired by Steven Barnes's novel '' Lion's Blood''. The songs and the book were written concurrently, and several of the songs are quoted in the book and its sequel. In a similar vein, the 2006 album ''Merlin's Descendants'' is based on the fiction of Irene Radford.Irene Radford's site
.
S.M. Stirling quotes Alexander's song lyrics in his ''Island in the Sea of Time'' trilogy. His
Emberverse The Emberverse series—or Change World—is a series of post-apocalyptic alternate history novels written by S. M. Stirling. The novels depict the events following a mysterious—yet sudden—worldwide event called "The Change" that occurs at ...
series features a red-haired musician who plays guitar, fiddle, and bodhran named Juniper Mackenzie. Alexander's song lyrics are used as Mackenzie's songs in the book. ( Juniper and heather are both plants.)This been commented on i
reviews
and convention programs.
John Ringo John Ringo (born March 22, 1963) is an American science fiction and military fiction author. He has had several ''New York Times'' best sellers. His books range from straightforward science fiction to a mix of military and political thrillers ...
quotes Alexander's song " March of Cambreadth" in his
Council Wars The Council Wars were a racially polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983 to 1986, centered on the Chicago City Council. The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and jo ...
series (for the Centurions' battle song) as well as in the Paladin of Shadows series.Per th
Midsummer page on the official website, www.heatherlands.com
, and BAEN books site.
"March of Cambreadth" and "Black Unicorn" are also quoted in the Looking Glass series. Mike Shepherd used the song "March of Cambreadth" in his book '' Defiant''. ''Defiant'' also has a character named Heather Alexander. Several of his songs have been parodied, most notably "March of Cambreadth".


Awards

Heather Alexander Alexander James Adams


Discography

The albums listed through ''Everafter'' are billed as Heather Alexander. Later are billed as Alexander James Adams. Despite the transition, all lyrics, music, and recordings originally
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
Heather Alexander retain the copyright of Heather Alexander.


Solo albums

Unless otherwise noted, albums feature a mix of traditional & original Celtic music. * ''Freedom, Flight and Fantasy'' 1990 (Firebird Arts and Music). Lyrics: Mercedes Lackey. Music:
Leslie Fish Leslie Fish is a folk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. Music Along with The DeHorn Crew, in 1976 she created the first commercial filk recording, ''Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet''. Her second recording, ''Solar S ...
. Arrangements: Cecilia Eng. * ''Heather Alexander, Live'' 1992 (Firebird Arts and Music). Alexander sings and plays guitar, bodhran, and fiddle. * ''Songsmith'', 1993 (Firebird Arts and Music). Songs based on the book ''Songsmith'' by Andre Norton and
A.C. Crispin Ann Carol Crispin (April 5, 1950 – September 6, 2013) was an American science fiction writer, the author of twenty-three published novels. She wrote several ''Star Trek'' and ''Star Wars'' novelizations, and created an original science fiction ...
. * ''Wanderlust'' 1994 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) First studio recording on Alexander's own label with backing musicians. * ''Shadow Stalker'' 1994 (Firebird Arts and Music). Lyrics: Mercedes Lackey & D.F. Sanders. Music: Heather Alexander & Cecilia Eng. Arrangements: Heather Alexander. * ''Life's Flame'' 1996 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Second live album. Alexander sings and plays guitar, bodhran, and fiddle. * ''Midsummer'' 1997 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Second studio recording on Alexander's own label with backing musicians. * ''A Gypsy's Home'' 2001 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Third studio recording on Alexander's own label with backing musicians. * ''Insh'Allah—Music of Lion's Blood'' 2002 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Songs based in the world of Steven Barnes' book ''Lion's Blood''. The book and album were written concurrently; Barnes quotes song lyrics in the book. * ''Festival Wind'' 2003 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Third live album. Alexander sings and plays guitar, bodhran, and fiddle. * ''Album of Secrets'' 2003 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Primarily bloopers and
outtakes An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...
from the recording of ''Festival Wind''. * ''Merlin's Descendants'' 2006 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Songs based on the ''Merlin's Descendants'' series by Irene Radford. * ''Arms of the Sea'' 2006 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Traditional and original sea shanties. * ''Everafter'' 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Final Heather Alexander solo album, this is a studio recording with backing musicians. (Despite having the same name as the DVD, the album is not DVD soundtrack.) * ''Cat & The Fiddle'' 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.)
Instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
fiddle tunes. * ''Balance of Nature'' 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Mostly new songs, a few re-recorded old songs ("Creature of the Wood"), and a few songs that blend old and new (such as " He of the Sidhe"). * ''Wintertide'' 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Yule album featuring traditional and original songs by Heather Alexander & Alexander James Adams, featuring duets between both voices. * ''A Familiar Promise'' 2008 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Studio album featuring new and old songs. * ''Harvest Season: Second Cutting'' 2010 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Studio album featuring new and old songs.See Alexander James Adams albums o
http://www.faerietaleminstrel.com
* ''UnSeelie Self'' 2010 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Studio album featuring new and old songs. * ''AJA Summer Releases'' 2013 * ''The Clockwork Collection'' 2014


Band albums

* ''Keepers of the Flame'', Phoenyx 1990 (Phoenyx and Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Issued by the band in 1990. No longer in print. * ''Uffington Horse Promotional Album'', Uffington Horse, 2004 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Created for promotional purposes; a limited run was offered to fans in 2004.For more information see the archive

.
* ''Enchantment'', Uffington Horse 2004 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Uffington's studio album.For more information, see th

* ''Live!'', Tricky Pixie 2007. Contains songs written and performed by Alexander James Adams, S.J. Tucker and Betsy Tinney. No longer in print.For more information see th
Tricky Pixie website
* ''Mythcreants'', Tricky Pixie 2009. Contains songs written and performed by Alexander James Adams, S.J. Tucker and Betsy Tinney.


DVD

* ''Everafter'' February 2007 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Recording of Heather Alexander's final public concert in November 2006 at Orycon. Alexander sang and played guitar, bodhran, and fiddle. Bonus materials include a few performances at a pub and an interview. * ''Yule Concert'' December 2009 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Recording of Alexander James Adams's December 2009 concert at the Lucky Lab Pub. * ''Ember Days Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (Pixiehouse Productions)


Books

* ''Everafter'' booklet February 2007. A short faerie tale. * ''The Heather Alexander Songbook'' was published in late 2007. It includes lyrics and music for the Sea Fire Productions albums from ''Wanderlust'' through ''Everafter''.


Guest appearances

This includes compilations and backing appearances for other artists. * ''Come Find Me'', Fox Amoore, 2014. Appeared on the track "Kellashee". * ''Thirteen'', Vixy & Tony, 2008. Played fiddle and percussion on the track "Apprentice". * ''Gaia Circles'', Gaia Consort, 2000. Played fiddle on most of the tracks. * '' Firestorm: Songs of the Third World War'', Leslie Fish. Sings on the track "Better than Who". * ''The Constellation'',
Hank Cramer Harry Griffith Cramer III (born 1953) is an American folk singer from the Pacific Northwest. He was born an army brat at Fort Bragg, North Carolina where his father was one of the Army's original Green Berets. Hank's father, Harry Griffith Cr ...
, 2003. * ''Roundworm'', various artists, 2000. (Song parodies by Bob Kanefsky.) Sings "December of Cambreadth", a parody of "March of Cambreadth", and "Something's Under The Bed", a parody of "Up In The Loft". * '' Southwind: Traditional Celtic Music '' by Glenn Morgan, 1987. Played Fiddle on most of the tracks


See also

* "Faerie Queen" (song) * " The Stolen Child"


References


External links


Official website of Alexander James Adams

Tricky Pixie Official website
* ''The Disappearance of Heather Alexander'' in ''
Just Out ''Just Out'' was an LGBTQ publication in Portland, Oregon founded in 1983 by Jay Brown and Renee LaChance. It ceased publication as a semimonthly newspaper in December 2011. In February 2012, Glenn-Kipp Publishing, Inc purchased the Just Out bra ...
'', March 7, 2008, p
24

25
(PDFs). Adams discusses his transition and career in this interview.
Firebird Arts and Music



Strange Horizons Interview, 29 July 2002

Strange Horizons Review of ''Insh'Allah'', 29 July 2002



S.M. Stirling's website, including sample chapters of the ''Dies the Fire'' series.

Irene Radford's site
featuring the ''Merlin's Descendants'' series.
Last.fm page


(BAEN publishes the John Ringo books that reference Heather Alexander) {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Alexander 1962 births Living people 21st-century LGBT people Bodhrán players Celtic fusion musicians Filkers American LGBT musicians LGBT people from California People from Banks, Oregon Renaissance fair performers Singers from California Transgender male musicians