So this week has brought the International Bluegrass Music Association’s annual World of Bluegrass festival/convention to Raleigh, which has kept me insanely busy (whew; I enjoy IBMA, and yet I’m also glad it only happens once a year because I need more sleep than this). But I still had an amusing little Ryan Adams moment the other night, listening to a band from Minneapolis called Monroe’s Crossing playing a deadpan bluegrass version of Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” — and thinking about past fits Ryan has thrown over that very song. Could not help but giggle, especially given the Monroe Crossing frontman’s introductory description of Bryan Adams as music harsh enough to annoy parents.
What made it even funnier in retrospect was hearing that Ryan himself dipped into the Bryan Adams catalog the same night, performing “Run to You” onstage at a show in Santa Barbara, Calif. Someday, maybe he’ll deign to do “Summer of ’69” and the circle really will close.
(ADDENDUM, 4/29/15: The circle is now closed — and at the Ryman, no less!)
Meanwhile, Ryan also recently unveiled yet another 1984-vintage cover, I Want To Know What Love Is,” the super-maudlin and epic power ballad by Foreigner; to go with his earlier Pointer Sisters “Neutron Dance” cover and acoustic version of Ratt’s “Round and Round.” Given his current Orwellian predilection for that era’s artifacts, can accompanying covers of “Purple Rain,” “Footloose” and “What’s Love Got To Do With It” be far behind?
ADDENDUM (3/5/2015): Ryan’s latest ’80s artifact isn’t from 1984, but a few years later, a cover of Patrick Swayze’s “Dirty Dancing” hit “She’s Like the Wind” with Natalie Prass. Um, really?…
Losering Books 