Adam Cole, The Piano Teacher You Wish You'd Had the First Time

"Do the Math" performed by Adam Cole with the Willow Band live at Waller's Coffeeshop

05/24/2026

I wasn’t trying to pen a Schoolhouse Rock tune, although I’d have killed to be one of those people back in the day. It started this way.

From the moment I heard Peter Wolf’s “Come As You Are,” I was hooked. You don’t know that song? Of course not. Minor hit from the J. Geils vocalist with a very interesting video on MTV that gave the song legs for a minute.

The song stuck with me, and one day I wrote a song I thought was a lot like it. The math part was incidental. I’ve written much mathier, nerdier songs than this one.

Plus it had what I thought was a Kinks bridge (although I came to learn it was more like Ba*****ed Ladies). I enjoyed the way my voice sounded, the way I was able to play the piano for it, and I made a nice demo with my daughter singing along.

Having the band play it was a huge rush for me, to finally get this song in front of an audience. But Dina, my trusty companion and backup singer, insisted it was Schoolhouse Rock and proceeded to insert the “3, 6, 9” section over the fade out! What could I do?

Oh, and one other nice feature: It’s a singalong. The audience has been instructed to help us sing the outro with the two sides of a relationship: “1) You look so good together,” and “You’re better off without her,” that is, addition and subtraction!

Do the math.

"Do the Math" performed by Adam Cole with the Willow Band live at Waller's Coffeeshop Not your average schoolhouse rock tune.Adam Cole and the Willow B...