Ryan Adams

Today is a great day. I got my hands on the new Ryan Adams EP, "Follow the Lights". I've decided something very recently. Ryan Adams, in all forms, by himself, with the Cardinals, or in the early days with Whiskeytown, is my favorite artist ever.

Maybe it's the time of life I'm in. I can't get enough of it. Whether its road trips, seeing him live, or barbecuing in Armstrong's back yard. The music just speaks to my soul. Sometimes painful, sometimes playful. Other times depressing, and definitely, the "damn" times.

Adams has been labeled a drama queen, mad genius, and punk. Make no mistake. He is all of those. But just like other greats before him, his work stands alone. Elton John said Adams is the greatest singer/songwriter of his generation, and regularly covers Adams' stuff, most notably, "Oh My Sweet Carolina".

His concert two weeks ago at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta was stunning. Musically gifted, lyrically brilliant, and emotionally haunting, Adams has a way of speaking about duty, pain, depression, love, and home. He is an American treasure. Even if he knows it. Even if he's an ass.

Sometimes I wish Adams was a little more user friendly. I wish he wasn't so much like...well, Ryan Adams. If he could just be less of a jerk, nicer even. But then again... isn't that what makes Ryan Adams, Ryan Adams? It's him taking 30 minute intermissions. He's the guy who mesmerizes you for an hour and a half, and then pulls an "Adams" by not coming back for an encore, leaving everyone upset. All of that...plus the genius. The lyrics. The guitars and pianos, make him completely unique in music today.


In a day when music is overly produced and fake...

there is Ryan Adams...
and the Cardinals...
and Whiskeytown.


"I Taught Myself How to Grow Old"
Words and Music by Ryan Adams, from the Album Easy Tiger

Poor little rose, beaten by the rain
In the wind, in the gale, thunder and the hail
Sometimes I feel like I'm going insane
Without the numbness or the pain so intense to feel
'Specially now it added up through the years

And I, I taught myself how to grow
Without any love and there was poison in the rain
I taught myself how to grow
Now I'm crooked on the outside and the inside's broke

Most of the times I got nothing to say
When I do it's nothing and nobody's there to listen anyway
I know I'm probably better off this way
I just listen to the voices on the TV 'til I'm tired
My eyes grow heavy and I fade away

'Cause I, I taught myself how to grow
Without any love and there was poison in the rain
I taught myself how to grow
Though I was crooked on the outside

I taught myself how to grow
Without any love and there was poison in the rain
I taught myself how to grow
'Til I was crooked on the outside, inside's caved

Crooked on the outside, inside's caved
Crooked on the outside, inside is caved
I taught myself how to grow old