Ryan Adams is doing a lot to promote his new album, no less than two videos released the same day? Add to this an all-star cast with Garry Shandling (who had curiously opened for Adams when I saw him at the Disney Hall in 2012), Jeff Garlin (whom I will forever associate with the hilarious HBO series ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’), Bob Mould (whom new music I discovered this year) and Don Was (who I met, well kind of, but he came at that Miles Davis exhibit opening that I attended a few months ago). Yeah, Adams has enrolled only heavy weights for his two short movies… do songwriters really need to go through this much when they release new music these days?
Anyway you can check both videos below, the first one tells the ‘sad’ story of Garlin’s parakeet dying after listening to Ryan Adams’ very emotional new album. He calls Ryan Adams’ manager (Shandling) on the phone, and producer Don Was wants Adams to record a new album that doesn’t kill the birds… and this is what Adams and Mould are attempting next… is that really funny? I am not that sure, but a lot of people find it is.
Then there is the second video a sort of film noir variation of the story with the same actors, but this time listening to Ryan Adams’ album turn people into zombies… So if I understand correctly, by the time you will read this, Ryan Adams’ album will be out and you will be either dead (if you are a bird) or a living dead. But seriously, everyone is praising the album. I haven’t really listened to it, I know it’s streaming on NPR and I am streaming, streaming…
I had already heard the first track and single ‘Gimme Something Good’ which sounded very much like a 80s rock revivalist track à la Tom Petty, and in reviews Petty’s name (as well as Springsteen’s) are regularly coming back… Does it mean Ryan Adams made a classic rock album? I am sorry to say I am not overly excited about the idea although I may change my mind with repeated listenings… Why making a Petty album when you are Adams? This is not Adams’ opinion as he declared to Billboard magazine he ‘wrote 150 fucking songs and got this killer record together that really had the sexuality, trouble and a little bit of danger. ‘
At the end, it’s a weird way to promote an album but Ryan Adams is a weird guy, who hangs out with Johnny Depp and Jello Biafra and loves pinball machines according to this in-depth article on Buzzfeed…. and there’s nothing wrong with that, I mean the pinball part.
Ryan has also a few dates coming up, but nothing in Los Angeles?
09-08 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
10-01 Santa Barbara, CA – Arlington Theater
10-03 San Francisco, CA – Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
10-05 Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Hall
10-06 Seattle, WA – Paramount Ballroom
10-07 Vancouver, British Columbia – Orpheum Theater
10-09 Edmonton, Alberta – Francis Winspear Theater
10-10 Calgary, Alberta – Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
10-12 Winnipeg, Alberta – Burton Cummings Theater
10-13 Minneapolis, MN – Northrop at the University of Minnesota
10-14 Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater
10-16 Chicago, IL – Chicago Theater
10-18 Ames, IA – Stephens Auditorium @ Iowa State Center
10-19 St. Louis, MO – Peabody Opera House
10-20 Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
10-23 Austin, TX – Moody Theater
11-06 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theater
11-08 Columbus, OH – Palace Theater
11-09 Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
11-11 Cleveland, OH – State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare
11-12 Toronto, Ontario – Massey Hall
11-18 Boston, MA – Wang Theatre
11-19 Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre
11-22-23 New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
