Melissa and I are going to see Ryan (not Brian) Adams tonight in Berkeley. Ryan has been one of my favorite musicians since his Whiskeytown days in the 90's. We had a long but fruitful weekend - and I'm looking forward to spending some time with my bride and hearing some great music, perhaps also eating some great Indian food in Berkeley. If I'm blogging about music - it's usually about either U2 or Ryan Adams...
Ryan is a brilliant singer / songwriter but has had a up and down career. He's recently embraced sobriety, kicking a pretty nasty drug habit. He's trying to avoid becoming a stereotype. Earlier this year the New York Times did a good article on Ryan and his journey. In the article it states
"ONE afternoon, as Ryan Adams was recording his new album, “Easy Tiger” (Lost Highway), at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village, the singer-songwriter Steve Earle dropped by to visit. Jimi Hendrix had built Electric Lady in the late 1960s, and Mr. Earle pointed out that “there are some good ghosts here.”
“Yeah,” Mr. Adams blithely responded. “There are the ghosts of about 45 speedballs from when I was recording here a year or two ago,” referring to a mixture of heroin and cocaine.
At once self-deprecating and self-mythologizing, the remark is characteristic of Mr. Adams, who is in the process of shoring up a career — and a life — that he had done his best to blow up. “There was intense loneliness, end-of-the-world stuff going on in my mind, bottomless depression,” he said, describing an extended period of substance abuse that ended a little over a year ago. “Without exaggerating, it is a miracle I did not die."
sorry i missed you in Berkeley yesterday. Let me know if you got my new cell number. I think I sent it to you a few weeks back. Love to get together. I'm eager to hear how the credit union is going.
ReplyDeletepeace, Jose