Preview By Kevin Wilson
Legendary Grateful Dead bass player Phil Lesh commits every live performance to tape but has a long-standing aversion to the recording studio. However, he once told me during a phone interview that there is one person who could coax him back into such an environment.
“If Ryan Adams … who, to me, is like a little brother with immeasurable talent … if he were to approach me about producing me in the studio, or even just sitting down to write some songs together, I would do it in a minute,” Lesh said.
Adams just has that sort of effect on people. At 33, he has more than proven himself as a capable songwriter, performer and producer in a variety of genres. It would be understatement to say he has impressed and befriended many important people along the way.
Thus far, Adams has fronted several bands of his own, most notably Whiskeytown, a short lived North Carolina based outfit that released three albums and helped define the raucous alt-country movement of the mid-1990s.
And since beginning a solo career in 2000, Adams’ eclectic sensibilities and high-energy work ethic have yielded ten vastly different records and an enormous songbook that has been interpreted by the likes of Tim McGraw, Bono, Elton John, and many others.
Additionally, Adams has competently occupied the producer’s chair to direct such luminaries as Willie Nelson and Minnie Driver in the studio, though not yet Lesh.
Still, like his pals Lesh and Nelson, Adams loves the road and is a mainstay on the concert circuit.
Prior to his embrace of the sober life, Adams was known for such antics as falling off stages, fighting with audiences, and relating incoherent stories from his perch.
But the man has mellowed and is better than ever. In fact, these days Adams puts on one of the best rock & roll shows you’ll ever see.
Currently out on a trek in support of his latest solo album, Easy Tiger, Adams and his excellent band, the Cardinals, will play the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis on 10/2 and the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati on 10/3. For more information visit www.ticketmaster.com.
