Greetings music fans,
Today I will highlight the artists from last month and give my selection for their best album and song.
This may seem like a copout blog, and it kind of is. But, with good reason, we became foster parents to three endearing and for the moment, little puppies on Saturday, and they necessitate and deserve more attention than you! Just kidding, you too deserve some attention, but this is as good as it gets today. However, I did pull video for each song selected. That should count for something!
Last month’s featured artists, in no particular order:
Great music waits!
Leave a comment | tags: Anna Begins, August and Everything After, Being There, Ben Gibbard, Big Sur, Blue, Boneclouds, Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Bruce Robison, Childish Things, Counting Crows, Doyle Bramhall II, Drive-By Truckers, Figther Girl, G. Love & Special Sauce, Gold, Gravity's Gone, I and Love and You, Icky Thump, James McMurtry, Jay Farrar, Jellycream, Josh Ritter, Let's Just Fall, Mason Jennings, My Brother and Me, My Morning Jacket, One Big Holiday, One Day as a Lion, One Fast Move or I'm Gone, Philadelphonic, Rainbow, Reckless Kelly, Robert Earl Keen, Ryan Adams, Scumbag Blues, Seven Nation Army, Shades of Gray, Silversun Pickups, Smile, So You Want It To Rain, Sunken Treasure, Swoon, Ten Thousand Words, The Animal Years, The Avett Brothers, The Jayhawks, The White Stripes, Them Crooked Vultures, There's No Secrets This Year, Under the Table and Above the Sun, Walking Distance, We Can't Make It Here, Wilco, Wild International, Wings, Wonderwall, Wrapped, Z | posted in Alt/Country Music, Alternative Music, Austin Music, Country Music, Folk Music, Heavy Metal Music, Indie Music, Live Music, Music, Pop Music, Rock Music, Southern Rock
Ryan Adams is the brilliant yet mercurial singer songwriter who broke on to the music scene in the early 90’s with the alt/country group Whiskeytown. The oft troubled singer has carved out a prolific and somewhat unpredictable solo career that has seen both critical and commercial success.
His solo debut “Heartbreaker” was released in 2000 with critical praise but lacked commercial clout. In 2001, he released “Gold” but was reluctant to work the media circuit to promote the album but eventually capitulated to the powers that be and made a video for his single “New York, New York” which eerily and fortuitously for him featured Adams playing with the city skyline behind him. The video was filmed four days prior to the 9/11 attacks and was put into heavy rotation on both MTV and VH1 which helped Adams find an audience with mainstream, commercial America.
Following the success of “Gold” Adams released “Demolition” with the similar results; critical attention but low volume sales. He then went on to produce Jesse Malin’s debut the aptly titled “The Fine Art of Self Destruction”. During 2002-03 Adams worked on the album “Love is Hell” which he eventually had to release as Pt. 1 & 2 EP’s due to his labels (Lost Highway) insistence that the album as a whole was not commercially viable. He went back and made another album “Rock N Roll” which was released in Nov. 2003 along with “Love is Hell Pt. 1” with Pt.2 following in December. Much to the surprise of Lost Highway “Love is Hell Pt. 1 & Pt. 2” were well received and in 2004 released it as intended, a complete album. This album features the cover of the Oasis classic “Wonderwall” which Adam’s earned a Grammy nomination for his rendition of the song.
In 2005 Adams brought together “The Cardinals” and released two albums “Jacksonville Nights” and “Cold Roses”. Rachel Yamagata covers backing vocals on several songs from “Cold Roses” while Nora Jones lends her dusky, dulcet tone to one song from “Jacksonville Nights”. In 2006 he produced Willie Nelson’s album “Songbird” and Adams and The Cardinals performed as Nelson’s backing band.
Currently, in true unpredictable Adam’s form, he has quit The Cardinals, become disillusioned with the musical world, is releasing some books, and spurring rumors of a Whiskeytown reunion. He also married singer/actress Mandy Moore.
Ryan Adams Discography:
- Heartbreaker
- Gold
- Demolition
- Rock N Roll
- Love Is Hell
- Cold Roses
- Jacksonville Nights
- 29
- Easy Tiger
- Follow the Lights
- Cardinology
Top 5 Ryan Adams Songs:
- Wonderwall (Love Is Hell)
- Two (Easy Tiger)
- My Love for You Is Real (Follow the Lights)
- New York, New York (Gold)
- Cold Roses (Cold Roses)
Ryan Adam’s music is available on iTunes and record stores.
Great music awaits!
2 Comments | tags: 29, Cardinology, Cold Roses, Demolition, Easy Tiger, Follow the Lights, Gold, Heartbreaker, iTunes, Jacksonville Nights, Jesse Malin, Love is Hell, Mandy Moore, MTV, Music you should be listening to!, My Love for You is Real, New York New York, Oasis, Rachel Yamagata, Rock N ROll, Ryan Adams, Songbird, The Cardinals, The Fine Art of Self Destruction, Two, VH1, Whiskeytown, Willie Nelson, Wonderwall | posted in Alt/Country Music, Alternative Music, Indie Music, Music, Rock Music