Ryan Adams "Goodnight Rose"

Nothing like a roomful of drunk geeks.

Or in this case, a roomful of drunk music geeks.

This week, Barbara Dacey is at the Non-Commvention in Philadelphia.  It's a gathering of radio folks from non-commercial stations and record company folks who promote bands that these stations might play.  And the labels bring bands who have new records to perform for this industry crowd.

What's it like?

It's been a few years since I've been to the Non-Comm, but the last time I was there was when Ryan Adams had his album "Easy Tiger" out.

I'm not sure if this was a period before or after Adams got sober, or what state of mind he was in at this point.  One could only guess, based on his stage presence.

He came out, to a packed and awaiting theater, filled mostly with excited industry/fans, and a large, lucky-feeling contingent of listeners.

He and his band, The Cardinals, took seats on the stage, sitting in a semi-circle, their chairs pushed as far to the back of the stage as possible, creating a gulf of hardwood between the band and the first row of concert-goers.

The lights on the stage were turned down as low as they could possibly go.

Adams himself sat in his chair, wearing a hoodie with the hood up.

And sunglasses.

And he also appeared to be wearing a shower cap.

??

He said nothing to the crowd for the entire show, except right before the last song, when he gave a fairly insincere, prefunctory sounding, "Thanks.  We're really honored to be here.  Good night."

He left the stage after he sang his last line, but before The Cardinals had completed the final song.

A forty minute set was over in 39 1/2 minutes.

Back at the hotel, in the bar, the debate began.

"Can you fucking believe that guy?  Rude!"

"What?  Were you listening?  They were amazing!"

It was true.  They sounded impeccable.

"But doesn't a performer have a responsibility to entertain? "

"Or at least be gracious?

"Or at a minimum, not show contempt for the audience?"

"You guys are hung up on bullshit.  He's there to play music.  And the music was incredible."

"Moving."

"That was a bullshit set."

And on and on it went like that.  Drunk people who do nothing but talk and think about music for a living, talking about something they could sink their teeth into.  And doing it while kinda drunk.  If you were on the inside, it was a blast.  If you weren't interested, it was probably intolerable and interminable.

That's what Non-Comm is like.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Ryan Adams "To Be Young Is To Be Sad Is To Be High"

I saw this picture of Dave Kish digging through stacks in a record store, and I thought about how infrequently I do the same thing.

Not because I don't like to, or because I don't have time, or because record stores are fewer and farther between these days.

It's simply because I don't have to go to a record store to dig through stacks.

It's true that, more and more, instead of getting CDs sent to the station, we receive MP3s.  But still, mostly, music comes to us via the mailbox.

Every day Mike-from-the-front-desk comes back from our PO Box with a plastic mail carton full of envelopes.  Barbara or Jess or I will tear through envelopes and pile up the bounty, sampling as much as we can, setting aside what might go to What's New For Lunch or to Bill for The Blues or to Alison for the Local Music Cafe, etc.

A tiny fraction of what comes in makes it's way to regular rotation.  The rest can pile up.  And pile up.  And pile up.

When there's time, it's good to go for a second look.  Or in the old days, a first look.

I first arrived at WMVY in 2000, after 6 years at a small, independent station in a fairly rural part of the South.  Being small, we didn't get much service from the record companies.  We were never awash in CDs, on the level that I discovered when I got to MVY.  Barbara Dacey was Program Director at the time, and it was she who sorted through the mail that came in.

In the short period it took me to find my feet and get comfortable at the station, I asked if I could dig through the piles to see if there were any treasures in there I might like to check out.

When I found something I was interested in, I asked Barbara if I could take it home.

"Who is this?"

I told her what I knew about Ryan Adams, about his previous band Whiskeytown and about the good reviews for his solo debut "Heartbreaker."

"Let me hang onto that one."

So, the bad news was that I didn't get to snatch that disc.  The good news was that we added his first solo single, and for the last 13 years his subsequent releases have been a regular part of mvyradio.

A little extra digging can make a difference.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Ryan Adams "Nuclear"

Welcome to another segment of "Let Me Ruin This Song For You."

(If you missed the first entry, you should probably read this)

Every time I hear the very beginning of this Ryan Adams song, I half-wish that a Looney Tunes episode was about to start . . .


Hear Ryan Adams on Youtube.


Hear the intro on Youtube.

Ryan Adams "Rosalie Come And Go"

I've already offered myself as a Professional Athlete Theme Song Consultant---a job that is totally imaginary.

A more realistic music-meets-baseball job would be "that guy at WEEI."

I don't know who does this job---it could very likely be an intern---but if you listen to the Red Sox on WEEI, they transition back from commercials to the announcers with a short music bumper.

I always wanted to be pals with whoever was doing the job around that magical 2004, World Series season, because he/she and I had the same taste.

There were lots of familiar and unfamiliar alterna-hits and special nuggets.

And when they were using this Ryan Adams semi-obscurity, I was super-impressed.  Only a real music-head would know this tune, as it's from the bonus "Side Four" ep from Adams' "Gold" album.

I don't know if I could top this nugget as we tossed to Joe Castiglione, but I'd love to try . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Willie Nelson, Keith Richards, Ryan Adams and Hank Williams III "Dead Flowers"

What a great quartet, for Kentucky Derby Day!

Well when you're sitting back in your rose pink cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
Ah, I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away

Hear the song on Youtube.

Ryan Adams "Answering Bell"

I had heard stories about Adam Duritz of Counting Crows taking refuge from fame by continuing to work as a bartender. And while I believed it, it was certainly still strange to see him right in front of me serving a drink.

It was especially strange, since he wasn't serving a drink at a bar, he was serving it on-stage.

He simply delivered a drink to Ryan Adams, and quickly exited the stage.

This was at Ryan Adams' show at the Paradise in Boston, October 2001, just after his "Gold" album came out. Adam Duritz had been a guest on the record, but the audience was surprised and delighted to see Duritz emerge from the wings just 3 songs into the show to recreate his back-up part of "Answering Bell."

I thought that maybe he'd stick around and be part of the fun---athletes don't want to sit on the bench---but after that song, he waved to the crowd and slipped backstage.

I wasn't surprised to see him come back on stage 20 minutes later, but I assumed it was to sing.

Nope. He just brought Mr. Adams a cocktail.

When he came out again, I thought, "Surely he'll sing this time."

Nope. Just delivering another drink. If you didn't know it was Adam Duritz, you wouldn't have even noticed him. He was just a roadie, unobtrusively slipping in and slipping out.

He did come out and sing one more time, when Adams covered "Rocketman," but that was it.

At the time, Duritz was a much bigger star than Adams. I thought it was a real display of restraint and humility, for him to behave more like a roadie who got to sing a little back up. Much respect for that.


See the video on Youtube.

I found a bootleg of this whole show. Wow!

Norah Jones "Dear John"

Traditionally, the poor and the outsiders innovate. The establishment co-opts, then eventually ruins the form.

So I've been curious to watch large companies navigate the modern world of promotion, with viral marketing and social media and such. If they appropriate guerrilla techniques, will they use them wisely, or will they sing the tone-deaf note of crass cash grabs.

Not surprisingly, Norah Jones (and the people behind her) navigate this field with an appropriate amount of taste and restraint.

For her new album "Featuring" which compiles tracks of collaboration from throughout her career, her label has produced a short interview piece for each of the tracks on the record.

They're informative, and they make good use of the $$$ behind them with good production values and editing to make something interesting, that makes me want to listen more.

Listen to how engaging Ryan Adams can be, as he compares his writing style to Norah's, and explains who the two styles met and succeeded.

Nice work!

Ryan Adams “Tina Toledo’s Street Walkin’ Blues”

I really thought that this was the direction Ryan Adams was going to go.

In 2001, he had put out “Gold,” seemly to leave behind the more straightforward Americana of his band Whiskeytown, and his first solo record “Heartbreaker.”

“Gold” hinted at his ability to work in familiar styles, sound like Van Morrison, Neil Young, or in this case, The Rolling Stones.

It’s got all the things that make a song “Stonesy,” including the riffy guitar part, the New York City references, the promiscuous lead character, the cocksure vocal delivery, the African-American female back-up singer vocal solo.

Garage rock was “in” around that time. The Strokes, The Hives, etc. But Ryan Adams could really write, and could do more than just the guitar swagger. He could craft the solid tunes the way The Glimmer Twins did.

He even did a cover of “Dead Flowers” with Willie Nelson around this time.

So who would’ve thunk that he’d end up embracing The Dead, instead, as he has done on his last several albums.

I’m ready for the Rock N Roll from Ryan, because I think he does it better than most.

Whiskeytown “16 Days” (Acoustic)

Do you have a favorite album, that you’ve listened to so often, it doesn’t really surprise you anymore? And you wish, somehow, it had a new song on it? One that was recorded in the style and spirit of the album, but you’d never heard before?

Ryan Adams is one of those guys who can do all sorts of things. His tastes and talents run from folk, to Americana, to punk rock, to Dead-inspired grooves to straight-up Rock And Roll. Some fans will follow him, no matter what he does. And some just pine for the sound he created when they first discovered him.

I heard Ryan Adams around 2000, as his first major label band, Whiskeytown, was winding down with the album “Strangers Almanac,” and he had just recorded a stunning solo debut, Heartbreaker, with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

Whiskeytown certainly never had a hit, but one of their most memorable tunes, and a fan favorite, was “16 Days.” A tremendous song, no doubt. But I was blown away by the version that came out last year, as a bonus part of the “Strangers Almanac” Deluxe Edition.

Recorded in a style similar to the songs on “Heartbreaker”---stark and acoustic, emotionally raw---it reminds me why I loved Ryan Adams so much when I first heard him. Like discovering a new song on an old favorite album.

Hear a sample of Whiskeytown “16 Days”

See the band perform it in 1997, here

Buy the album, here