Chesterton-reared songwriter, performer and actor Adam Wagner admits to suffering bouts of small town blues growing up.
But those bouts, he said, helped to shape him as an artist.
"When you're young, you tell everybody 'I want to get out of here' and 'there's nothing do here' and all that kind of stuff," he said. "But I will say that, with having nothing to do, it gave me the imagination that I needed and it kept me grounded."
Scheduled to perform Saturday at Hammond's Towle Theater, Wagner graduated from Chesterton High School in 2001, the same year he began penning his own compositions. He then made his way to the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, where he received his bachelor's degree.
Currently residing in New York City, Wagner received kudos for roles in productions such as "Brigadoon" and had a supporting role in the 2007 indie thriller "Teeth the Movie," which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in Dramatic Competition at that year's Sundance Film Festival.
As a songwriter, Wagner showcased his chops in 2006 with "An Evening of (Mostly) True Songs," which found some of his Broadway peers interpreting his compositions. He cited Craig Carnelia, a big apple based Tony award nominated composer and mentor to Wagner, and indie-minded piano man Ben Folds as primary influences.
"A lot of my stuff is not big and showy, but people will be able to relate to some of the stories, and hopefully they'll be moved by them," he said. "It's also about showing the human experience, which I think both (Carnelia and Folds) are experts at."
Wagner is scheduled to be joined by a trio of area singers at Towle Theater on Saturday; hometown singers Sarah Penrose and Doug Pishkur and Hammond's Kevin Bellamy. As a youngster, Wagner performed with Penrose in numerous high school theater productions.
"I'm a big supporter of using local talent," he said. "They love to do it and people like to see that. And I like hearing other people sing my stuff."
In addition to working on what will be his first collection of original material, Wagner is considering leaving New York City; in the last several weeks, he has spent time in Los Angeles, Tampa, Phoenix and Portland, and is planning to head to San Francisco after his area performance.
"I've been going from place to place talking with locals and seeing how I would fit into a certain city," Wagner said Monday, shortly after touching down to the Windy City. "I'm not done with New York by any means, but it doesn't seem a place that I need to be right now. I'd like to be somewhere where I can kind of think and focus and have a little space."
All tickets for Wagner's performance at Towle Theater must be paid for in advance. All attendees at Saturday's performance must pick up their tickets no later than 15 minutes prior to show time.
Adam Wagner, 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Towle Theater, 5205 Hohman Ave., Hammond
COST: $10 FYI: (219) 937-8780; TOWLETHEATER. ORG
