Where the Music took Me
By: Otis Thomas
Adam L. Glover, born in Erie Pennsylvania, was introduced to Meadville when he was assigned to St. Johns Baptist Church. Adam is the MD(musical director) for the church which requires him to be full of spirit and knowledge about the bible. While playing the keys, his knowledge about the reason behind the worship entices people and helps bring them to the same place spiritually. Adam is no stranger to playing musical instruments as he started playing the trumpet at 8 years old. While growing up, he played trumpet alongside other trumpeters, trombonists, and saxophonists at church. Later in his life he switched from trumpet to piano and organ. Church has always been a part of his life as he was considered a "PK" which stands for pastor's kid. "I'm from a small Pentecostal Apostolic church which means we had service 5 days a week."
Outside of church, Adam is a multi-media producer which has dubbed him the nickname, "Jack of all Trades". With an interest in new technology, Adam took Adobe and AutoCAD, Photoshop, and illustrator classes in high school with the mentality of, "it's just a class" but shortly this ended up peaking his interest in these software tools. Although his major in college was business, he had a part time job at a recording studio. While at this studio, he picked up web design which has helped him ever since. After graduating college, Glover had a dream of wanting to be the next Kirk Franklin, a gospel song writer. He started using his love for music to make different genres of music including gospel, contemporary rap, and R&B. Soon all his hard work started to pay off, he got the opportunity to open for Paul Wall, a famous rapper from Texas, in Cleveland which was action packed and full of energy. Shortly after, Wall suggested Glover move out to Texas so his career in the music and producer industry could take off; however, he recently had a first daughter and wanted to figure out his family matters first. While figuring out what path he wanted to take, he went to his personal record label and told his staff to continue doing what they thought would progress the company. As for Glover, he decided he was going to return to his original passion which was the church. After a convincing conversation with Bishop Bowman, he decided to play keys for St. John Radical Church in Meadville.
Adam L. Glover’s journey ties to The Great Passion by James Runcie where music, calling and devotion shape the why factor behind the musicians playing. Similarly to the musicians in the novel who discover the deeper meaning behind Bach’s work, Adam grew up surrounded by church music and learned early on how powerful worship can be. He explored other paths such as technology, production, and even entertained starting a musical career but ultimately like Runcie’s characters, he went back to the place where his gifts truly belonged. Glover's decision to return to the church reflects the novel's central theme that the purpose is found when talent and faith come together.
Adam Glover