Ryan Adams

In a previous segment I wrote about Death Cab for Cutie, and how not only did I love their music, but I greatly admired Ben Gibbard, the primary songwriter guitarist and singer. Now I will track to the opposite end of the spectrum, and talk a little bit about Ryan Adams. I have difficulty here, because I so desperately want to love his music. He successfully revives the alt-country genre with a very distinct Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers vibe. Most of the time I can allow myself to disconnect my personal feelings about him and enjoy the music for what it is, but then there are other times when I can't look past the fact that he's a pretentious wind-bag. I watched several interviews of him, and always came away feeling like he was an idiot, and unfortunately that has skewed how I listen to him. His first band Whiskeytown is right on, and really hits the right groove, and because it's not a solo effort I don't feel as strongly, but with his solo records like Gold, Heartbreaker and Easy Tiger leave me feeling disappointed and a little hollow inside. Easy Tiger is a very solid work, but I still can't get past my personal feelings. It bums me out to think that I'm the kind of person who lets these things get in the way, but he's just so lame that it hurts. And if he was just a pompous jerk that would be one thing, but he just sounds like a dope when he's talking about his music. He's an extremely talented guy, that's for sure and don't let any of this deter you from buying his records because they are quite satisfying musically, just don't let the personality get in your way.