The new (old?) Ryan Adams career

Eight years have passed since the latest Ryan Adams concert in Italy and 23 from the first (and unique) vault when he played in Milan. It was 2002, and he had just come out “Gold”, an album considered one of his masterpieces together with “Heartbreaker”, his first solo album. The tour that arrives tomorrow evening at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan celebrates this album, which will be re -proposed in full.
Over the past five years Ryan Adams has released 16 (!) Albums, including three of covers: a rereading of “Nebraska”, one of “Blood on the tracks” and one of “(What’s the story) Morning Glory?” of the Oasis – Not to mention live records.

Ryan has always made himself known for his irrepressible prolificity and dispersiveness: he has always had this approach outside the record schemes. Nothing has changed and yet everything has changed.

What was “Heartbreaker”?

When Ryan Adams came out in 2000 with his first solo album, he was a lightning bolt, or almost. His first band, whiskeytown, had made himself known in that circuit that was defined Alt-Countrya rock reinterpretation, sometimes lo-fi, of a traditionally conservative genre.

“Heartbreaker” put us little to become a classic: the following year he was candidate for the shortlist music prize (the American version of the Mercury Music Prize) and found fame supporters such as Elton John, who declared that he was inspired by Adams for “Songs from the West Coast”, his 2001 album presented as a sort of return to the 1970s.
The album was surrounded by a legendary halo: recorded in two weeks with Ethan Johns (son of the great Glyn Johns, collaborator of the Stones, Who and Zeppelin), with a rough and Lo-Fi approach and a title that Ryan Adams said he chose in a few minutes inspired by a Mariah Carey poster. Then there were the songs: of a disarming beauty, stories of love and loss between the bob Dylan of “Blood on the tracks” and the classic country.
Adams immediately became a character between genius and unruly, with concerts also rich in apparently improbable covers. In the 2016 Deluxe reprint there is also an acoustic live at Mercury Lounge. “Gold”, released just a year later, had a more classic rock approach. The writing of the songs of “Heartbreaker”, the interpretation, had shown a huge talent to the world of rock. So great that in the following years it became as relevant as it is irrepressible, publishing albums in burst, with different genres and styles.

Stop (and go?)

It all changed in the early months of 2019, when Ryan Adams was accused by seven women of piscological and sexual harassment – among these, the ex -wife, actress and singer -songwriter Mandy Moore, and the singer -songwriter Phoebe Bridgers. There were no judicial problems, but his reputation was compromised, also thanks to an approach by the singer -songwriter not exactly linear, indeed quite confused – between the refusal of the accusations, apologies defined not sincere by accusatrrici, and a slow attempt to return to music.
The records scheduled for that period were first postponed, then published in another form after some time.

On social media, he maintained a public profile lower and slowly resumed to do concerts. Now Ryan Adams has (more or less) resumed his career in his hand – almost as if nothing had happened.
The context, however, has changed: the American media in the sector, usually rather attentive and benevolent, now ignore it completely (just do a search on Google and you will not find almost anything in recent years). The same goes for many artists and for the record industry: Adams publishes everything alone, with his label, the pax am. The artists with whom he often collaborated seem to have moved away. Ryan Adams was not “canceled”, on the contrary: he exploited a system, that of music, different from that of cinema or TV. Everyone can release and distribute their albums alone, as he did, jumping the mediation of a good part of the industry.

He has been regularly with concerts for several years, especially in acoustic, and the European tour is largely sold-out: a sign that fans have chosen to support him. Whether it is, Ryan Adams will no longer be what it once was. The story and image of the singer -songwriter all genius and unruly have been crumbled for some time.
The songs remain: those of “Heartbreaker” have marked a period of rebirth of the American rock songwriter and remains one of the great records of the early zero years, to be listened to also in this live version.