Alexander James Adams (formerly Heather Alexander; born November 8, 1962) is an American singer, musician and songwriter in the Celtic and world music genres who blends mythical, fantasy, and traditional themes in performances, switching between instrumental fiddle and songs accompanied by guitar, bodhrán, and fiddle-playing. Adams has also been an artist in the field of filk music and won multiple Pegasus awards.
Adams performed for 25 years before his gender transition. His website refers to him as the "heir" to Heather Alexander, and continues to credit songs originally released as Heather Alexander under that name.
In the late 1980s, Adams co-founded the Celtic fusion rock band Phoenyx, which released one album, Keepers of the Flame. The band disbanded in 1991 after achieving a high degree of local fame. Their album was reprinted by Prometheus Music in 2025.
Adams returned to a solo career. Firebird Arts & Music produced a live album which did well enough to inspire Adams to create a label, Sea Fire Productions, Inc., for his album release Wanderlust. Two live concert albums and several studio albums have followed. Adams also moved to the Pacific Northwest, settling in Banks, Oregon in 2002.
In 2001, Adams founded a new band, Uffington Horse, together with Andrew Hare and Dan Ochipinti and continued to perform solo gigs between band appearances. In 2004, a limited run of the Uffington Horse promotional CD was offered to fans to help finance recording their first studio album, Enchantment, published in 2004.
S.M. Stirling quotes Adams's song lyrics in his Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. His Emberverse series features a red-haired musician who plays guitar, fiddle, and bodhran named Juniper Mackenzie. Adams' song lyrics are used as Mackenzie's songs in the book. (Juniper and heather are both plants.)
John Ringo quotes Adams' song "March of Cambreadth" in his Council Wars series (for the Centurions' battle song) as well as in the Paladin of Shadows series. "March of Cambreadth" and "Black Unicorn" are also quoted in the Looking Glass series.
Mike Shepherd used the song "March of Cambreadth" in his book Defiant. Defiant also has a character named Heather Alexander.
Several of Adams' songs have been parodied, most notably "March of Cambreadth".
Awards
Heather Alexander
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Award
!Category
!Nominee/Song
!Result
|-
|1995
|Pegasus Award
|Best Performer
|Heather Alexander
|
|-
|1996
|Pegasus Award
|Best Writer/Composer
|Heather Alexander
|
|-
|1996
|Pegasus Award
|Best Performer
|Heather Alexander
|
|-
|1998
|Pegasus Award
|Best Myth Song
|"Midsummer"
|
|-
|1998
|Pegasus Award
|Best Adaptation
|Demonsbane w/ Mercedes Lackey
|
|-
|2006
|Pegasus Award
|Best Battle Song
|"March of Cambreadth"
|
|-
|2018
|Pegasus Award
|Best Classic Filk Song
|"Creature of the Wood"
|
|}
Alexander James Adams
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Award
!Category
!Nominees & Recipients
!Result
|-
|2011
|Pegasus Award
|Best Performer
|Tricky Pixie
|
|-
|2013
|Pegasus Award
|Best Performer
|Alexander James Adams
|
|}
Discography
The albums listed through Everafter are billed as Heather Alexander. Later are billed as Alexander James Adams.
Solo albums
Unless otherwise noted, albums feature a mix of traditional & original Celtic music.
- Freedom, Flight and Fantasy 1990 (Firebird Arts and Music). Lyrics: Mercedes Lackey. Music: Leslie Fish. Arrangements: Cecilia Eng.
- Arms of the Sea 2006 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Traditional and original sea shanties.
- UnSeelie Self 2010 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Studio album featuring new and old songs.
- Enchantment, Uffington Horse 2004 (Sea Fire Productions, Inc.) Uffington's studio album.
- Live!, Tricky Pixie 2007. Contains songs written and performed by Alexander James Adams, S.J. Tucker and Betsy Tinney. No longer in print.
- Mythcreants, Tricky Pixie 2009. Contains songs written and performed by Alexander James Adams, S.J. Tucker and Betsy Tinney.
Books
- Everafter booklet February 2007. A short faerie tale.
- The Heather Alexander Songbook was published in late 2007. It includes lyrics and music for the Sea Fire Productions albums from Wanderlust through Everafter.
Guest appearances
This includes compilations and backing appearances for other artists.
- Southwind: Traditional Celtic Music by Glenn Morgan, 1987. Played fiddle on most of the tracks.
- Firestorm: Songs of the Third World War, Leslie Fish, 1989. Sings on the track "Better than Who".