Heart of Art—Adam Gottstein on Music
This article originally published on August 8, 2025 in the Ledger Dispatch Newspaper. Click here to view the article on their website or read below.
By Meghan Joy “MOJO” O’Keefe
Summertime means live music, picnics with friends and family, and lingering conversations in beautiful outdoor spaces with the magic of twilight and community connection. The Amador County Arts Council (Amador Arts) plays an instrumental role in these summertime cultural traditions (since 1982). With a volunteer board of directors, Amador Arts sustains its commitment to free live music in remote spaces.
Five concerts remain this summer, and this Friday (August 8th), Amador Arts invites you and the entire family to join us at the iconic Volcano Amphitheatre for this one-of-a-kind ensemble: Over The Edge, featuring Adam Gottstein, Dave Holob, Joe Bellamy, Carlos Lopez, and surprise special guests. The music is from 6 to 8 PM, but arrive as early as 4:30 to begin your picnic and get a spot on the beautiful terraces (Limited space. Bring chairs, repellent, beverages, and blankets). This is a free, all-ages event.
Amador Arts loves to know the ins and outs of our local artists and Gottstein has passionate answers to our questions. In his view “Access to free music means you don’t have to travel to Sacramento or the Bay Area. The fact that these concerts are free means a wider variety of audience can attend…whether you have discretionary funds for entertainment or not.”
A seasoned musician with a diverse array of creative expertise, Gottstein is exemplary when it comes to lifelong arts practice; investing decades into his musical skills and experience. This persistence across the ups and downs of life’s cycles makes me wonder why he continues his music practice. His enthusiasm is infectious, “I love this question. I cannot imagine my life without music. My first guitar lesson came at the urging of my older sister when I was eight. I sang with the San Francisco Boys Chorus for two years when I was ten and eleven. I find music to be inextricably interwoven with life. Many of my activities are enhanced by music and in fact, I believe life to be borderline intolerable without music.” His passion for the impact and position of music in our life is tangible and inspiring, especially when he and the band are performing their original music.
Reflecting on next steps, Gottstein ruminates, “My seventieth birthday is upcoming. With a new grandson, music will continue, albeit on a more personal level and less of a performance-based activity. My repertoire of children’s songs have taken a new priority in my life these days. Like many people that I know, there is my novel that I must complete…it’s high time, right?”
Gottstein willingly offers advice to young and emerging artists. “My advice for budding musicians—whether you play an instrument, sing, produce recorded music, or produce musical events—is just to keep showing up. So many good things have come my way because I always had a guitar at the ready. It opened up situations and relationships if I could pull out my guitar and spontaneously start playing on an ancient walkway, or just be able to sit in on an open mic. Learn some good sing-a-long songs in the spirit of Pete Seeger. Let your music become an extension of your political and social beliefs. Get others to rally around the chorus of “This Land is Your Land” and other important anthems. Music is a life force…as real to me as the blood that flows in my veins. It’s a privilege and a gift. Learn it. Make it. Don’t squander it.”
Adam Gottstein performs with his band Over the Edge, at the Amador Arts TGIF Free Summer Concerts on Friday, August 8th from 6 to 8 PM at Volcano Amphitheatre. This concert series would be impossible without the State Local Partner program from the California Arts Council, a state agency, arts.ca.gov. Amador Arts is a 501c3 devoted to advancing arts and cultural expression for historically disinvested communities, EIN 94-2811333. To learn more about the TGIF Free Summer Concerts and all of the State Local Partner work, please visit our website amadorarts.org or call/text 209-256-8166.
