Jackson Free Press

While concertgoers are liable to hear covers of artists from Erykah Badu, Bruno Mars, Otis Redding, Lenny Kravitz and Aretha Franklin at any given performance from Jackson musician Adam Collier, the covers have never been about retreading current hits.

"I always say we aren't a cover band," he says. "We are a band who happens to do covers of artists we like. My only problem with cover bands is that they only cover what seems to be popular."

Collier, whom most fans and friends know as AJC, is the face of AJC & the Envelope Pushers, a band that performs rock, blues, reggae and Latin music all in a single night. Collier often swaps band members in and out but has kept three main members on board for the entire ride: bassist Quan Curry, pianist Terrance Evans, who studied classical piano at the University of Mississippi and jazz at Jackson State University, and drummer Trent Hunter, who is skilled at six different instruments. After almost eight years of performing, AJC & the Envelope Pushers are closing in on the official release of the band's first album, "Fallen Star," which Collier says he hopes to release in April.

"It differs from a hip-hop, Jay Z thing to straight neo-soul, and then down to some rock, and also some reggae," he says. "What's so cool about 'Fallen Star' is, picture me at home with a laptop, an iPod Touch and 50 notebooks—I've got everything out. I literally was constructing 'Fallen Star' out of every lyric I have ever written. You have 15 sad songs; lump them into two or three songs that are awesome and really resonate with you."

On Feb. 21, the Clay Hardwick-directed video for the record's title track won the Hoka Award for Best Music Video at the Oxford Film Festival. The full music video, which features two more songs from "Fallen Star," will screen at Crossroads Film Festival on Friday, April 1.

Records and music videos are, of course, a popular and accessible way to share one's music with fans, but Collier says he prefers the energy and adaptable nature of live shows.

"Producers and deejays are great, but when you throw a live band into the mix, it changes the whole concept of where you thought their music was going," he says.

Collier thrives on live performance, human interaction and the spotlight, and those elements have made some of the greatest impacts on his music. He says one performance that took place two years ago at Duling Hall was so powerful that "I haven't been on point like I was that night in my entire career."

"If you get into music just for yourself, you may not go anywhere because you will get discouraged headed in," Collier says. "Everybody tells you if you stay with it, the crowd is going to come, but you only see that there are 10 people at your show. So you learn how to say, 'There are only 10 people at my show. I'm going to give them the best show I've ever given.' You can't do it for the money; you can't do it for the fame. You do it for yourself."

The Internet age has made underground artists like AJC more accessible than ever, but he says it's important not to let these channels become the only way he interacts with fans.

"Social media is great, but it can never match anywhere close to the power of shaking that person's hand," Collier says. "Sure, it gives great exposure, but when I'm at a show, I would like to walk around through the crowd and say hi to every single person. Leave the Internet for addressing areas I cannot reach every day like Los Angeles."

Read more music coverage jfp.ms/music. Send music ideas to Music Editor Micah Smith at [email protected].