Adam Gregory Pergament

Adam Gregory Pergament, a finalist for Best Artist (Other) in the First Annual Madison WI Area Music Awards, is a Spoken Word performer who has bridged the gap between poetry and music. His dynamic style of Rock and Fire Flowpoetry combines rhythm, musicality, and a highly condensed depth of poetic language. His delivery on stage makes him one of the most unique and riveting performers on the Midwestern musical and artistic landscape. Adam speaks shamanically through poems of Asian Gods and Goddesses, tells Cowboy stories of the American Wild West and the Railroad Age, and poetically rants and rages about both Love and War. In 2006, he was appointed as the first ever "Poet-In-Residence" at The King Club, Madison, WI's premier live music dance club. He has performed over 450 times in the USA with Rock and Roll bands, Jazz musicians, and as a solo poet.

His current projects include Venice Gas House Trolley (a "Beat Freak" trio consisting of voice, double bass, and percussion) and Rock and Fire Flowpoetry (spoken word with vocal effects, loops, guitar and electric bass). Over the past two years, he led and taught Chime Collective Big Band weekly improvised free flow musical and poetic workshops at The Madison WI Center For Creative And Cultural Arts. In previous incarnations, Adam has played catcher for the University of Minnesota Baseball team, spent five years backpacking throughout Asia and India, earned a Master of Arts Degree in Languages and Cultures of Asia and studied for seven years in the University of Wisconsin-Madison�s Buddhist Studies Ph.D program. He holds a black belt in Kendo (the art of the Samurai swordsman). He has performed with such Jazz notables as Hanah Jon Taylor (Chicago�s Artists For The Advancement of Creative Music) and Vincent Davis (Roscoe Mitchell Quartet). He has opened shows for Jam band luminaries The Steve Kimock Band, Cornmeal, and Groovatron. He has also appeared on festival billings with The Jerry Garcia Band, Trampled By Turtles, and Indigenous.