Adam Cohen continues the legacy

A well-travelled individual born in Montreal and raised in France and Greece’s island of Hydra, singer-songwriter Adam Cohen dislikes being called a citizen of the world.

“That’s kind of pretentious, don’t you think?” asks Cohen from his Los Angles base.

The son of Canadian poet-singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and American expatriate Suzanne Elrod, the younger Cohen is carving his personal and musical identity.

There are pros and cons to having famous parents, but the younger Cohen is more than ever prepared to meet the challenges.

He just released We Go Home, a personal journey of his life produced under the guiding hand of Don Miguel, a long-time friend and collaborator. And on Wednesday, Nov. 12, Cohen brings his new sound to the Arden Theatre.

“On my last record, Like a Man, I declared to anyone that I was loud and proud that I had found my voice and become who I wanted to be,” said Cohen. In between questions, he could be heard puffing on an e-cigarette – something he said does not hamper his raspy tones.

Surprisingly enough, there is a common assumption, further heightened by ambitious reviewers that he is trying to “escape his father’s shadow.”

In countering those critics, Cohen responded by saying, “I share a genetic code with a man I admire. I also share access, tutelage, attention and support. There is also a heap of work I’ve admired. The notion that I’m living in a tyrannical shadow is false. It’s quite the opposite. It’s a light, a bar I aspire to. I adeptly embrace the environment I was raised in and am carving out my own accomplishments.”

Being raised in an artistic family, Cohen was a natural musician teaching himself to play guitar, drums and piano by age 12. Straight from high school he worked as a roadie before forming Low Millions, a pop-rock band. He had a few modest radio hits, but in 2007, disillusioned with the business, he quit.

Of his pop-rock efforts, Cohen was quoted as saying he was chasing a sound that wasn’t his own.

“My goal wasn’t to be good. My goal was to be successful,” he said. “I would characterize the early part of my career as a pursuit of commercial goals at the expense of artistic merit. Then ironically, I realized the first success was my last album. It was when I abandoned commercial success. With my latest record I straddle both. I wish to contribute to music the way music has contributed to me.”

Recorded partially at his home in Hydra and at the family home in Montreal, he explains that the houses took on the role of gatekeepers of truth.

“These homes heard my footsteps as a boy and it aided in creating a comfortable, familiar environment and that familiarity is imbued in the album.”

While Like a Man was a stripped down affair, We Go Home has been amped up with a string section that creates a lush component.

“It’s not Michael BublĂ© with a symphony in the background. It doesn’t need that extra layer. It’s complete. The songs are complete as dictated. I’ve paid great attention to the sincerity of the record and not overdo it. I wasn’t trying to sell the record, but rather capture the emotions.”

As the father of young Cassius, the concept of family roots has taken on a deeper meaning.

“There’s an unbroken chain. I carry my father’s name with dignity and I would like to create a name my son will carry with pride.”