In order to clear up any misconceptions about this blog or about myself, the Reverend will provide readers with an ongoing "Frequently Asked Questions" entry. This section will be updated as needed, as we receive questions from the audience or when the Reverend comes up with something stupid to ask himself.
1) Who The Hell Is Ryan Adams?
According to his All Music Guide bio, singer/songwriter David Ryan Adams was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina on November 5, 1974. Adams formed his first band, the punk-influenced Patty Duke Syndrome, at the age of 15. Adams and the band relocated to the larger city of Raleigh in 1993 but a year later he left PDS to form the alt-country outfit Whiskeytown with guitarist Phil Wandscher and violinist Caitlin Cary. Whiskeytown quickly made a name for itself with critically acclaimed albums like Faithless Street (1994) and Stranger’s Almanac (1997). In 1999 the band recorded its third and final album, Pneumonia, for Geffen’s ill-fated Outpost label, the album shelved by record company shake-ups and the usual corporate hijinx. Whiskeytown subsequently broke up, the band failing to achieve commercial success to equal its creative potential.
The ambitious Adams didn’t let any grass grow under his feet after the demise of Whiskeytown, however. He moved to Nashville and launched his solo career, releasing his debut disc Heartbreaker on the "insurgent country" label Bloodshot Records in 2000. A year later he signed to the faux "indie" label Lost Highway Records. See more about Lost Highway in number three, below.
Lost Highway released Whiskeytown’s long-lost Pneumonia album in 2001, following it up with Adams’ sophomore effort Gold later that year. Lost Highway has been home to Adams’ work ever since, releasing albums like Demolition (2002), Rock N Roll (2003), Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights (both 2005) as well as numerous EPs and at least one collection of demos and obscurities. A prolific and talented songwriter, Adams’ recorded work runs the gamut from honky-tonk country and pop-edged rockers to country-rock and confessional folk.
2) Why does Ryan Adams suck?
Music fans may remember the story from a few years ago when Adams got pissed off at people requesting the song "Summer of ‘69" by Bryan Adams at his shows, reportedly going so far as to have the loudest idiots tossed out on their ears. People in general being a bunch of obnoxious dicks, they started attending Adams’ shows just to shout epitaphs like "You Suck!" and "Jeff Tweedy’s better!" at the musician. In an interview with Spin Magazine, Adams called his fans a "bunch of fucking cocks" and stated that he had to go into therapy because of the "Bryan Adams" heckling. Adams’ love/hate relationship with his audience is well documented at this point, and the artist has even gone so far as to sell "Ryan Adams Sucks" t-shirts as a way to defuse his growing chorus of media detractors.
Of course, Adams didn’t make any friends during his brief residence in the Music City. Before moving to New York City, Adams managed to alienate most of the old guard of Nashville’s music industry and pissed off local musicians with his conceit and "superstar" attitude. Although Adams lived here in Nashville, he didn’t attempt to participate in the local scene or to ingratiate himself with the city’s "art" crowd. Of course, this was entirely Adams’ loss, since Nashville has long been a hotbed of talent the equal of this cover-boy songwriter. Jason & the Nashville Scorchers, Webb Wilder, Aashid Himons, Max Vague, Threk Michaels, Ken McMahan and the Dusters, Bonepony, Tony Gerber, Giles Reaves, Tommy Womack, Will Kimbrough and Todd Snider are among the super-talented folks who have forged careers of varying levels of success in Nashville.
3) What Is Your Problem With Lost Highway Records?
As stated earlier, Lost Highway was an imprint formed by Polygram Nashville President Luke Lewis as an outlet for artists like Lucinda Williams and William Topley that Lewis enjoyed and respected, but who had limited commercial potential. As the head honcho at Polygram, Lewis enjoyed great success with Shania Twain, and it was his relationship with Twain and her husband, uber-producer "Mutt" Lange that kept Lewis in power and Lost Highway afloat when the Polygram label family was absorbed into the Universal Music universe.
Helping the cause was the unexpected commercial success of the O’ Brother Where Art Thou film soundtrack released by the label. A collection of rural blues and hillbilly music, the soundtrack sold over four million copies, a phenomenal amount for a roots music collection, and it sold the Universal executive suite on Lewis’ little boutique imprint. Make no mistake, however…Lost Highway is not an indie label…and though it enjoys a certain autonomy because of Lewis’ power and position, the label is subject to the whims of its corporate giant. Universal is the largest label family in the world, a multi-billion dollar company that currently holds the largest slice of the CD sales pie.
Today, Lost Highway is home to artists like Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Tift Merritt and Van Morrison. Universal also distributed Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label through Lost Highway, so that the imprint can claim Johnny Cash’s last recordings as well. Sadly, any mention of the ultra-talented William Topley seems to have disappeared from the Lost Highway web site.
To be honest, though, Jim Flammia – Lost Highway’s publicity guru – is a pretty nice guy even if he doesn’t send me promo CDs any more.
4) Who The Hell Are You?
Why, gentle reader, I am the Rev. Keith A. Gordon, the "reverend of rock," the "monk of metal," the "pastor of punk," the…well, you get the picture. The Reverend has been walking the pop culture beat for 33 years now and forgotten more about music than most of you will ever know. The Reverend’s words have appeared in over 100 publications across the globe, and he is the editor and writer of several books. The Reverend has lurked around the fringes of the music industry for decades, and knows where many of the bodies are buried. With one ear to the ground and the other to the wind, the Reverend knows the games played by "the biz" against its artists and consumers and has raged against the machine for years with little support. Unfortunately, many of the Reverend’s predictions about the industry have come true while most of his suggestions for improvement have gone unheard.
