Ryan Adams’ NC boycott continues

If you were hoping that Ryan Adams’ apparent contemplation of a Whiskeytown reunion might signal a softening of feelings toward his native state, forget about it. U.S. tour dates are starting to come together for this spring, and once again North Carolina is nowhere to be found on his itinerary (at least not yet). A stretch in the first half of March finds Ryan playing two dates each in Virginia, South Carolina and Florida — but none in The Old North State, which he will presumably have to drive through to get from Richmond to Columbia.

This is pretty much standard operating procedure for Ryan on the road nowadays. During his last major stretch of touring in 2014-15, Ryan made it to every adjoining state without playing in North Carolina, where he’s not played a show since 2005. Come June 8, it will be an even dozen years since the last time.

Anyway, looks like road trips will once again be in order for anyone in North Carolina who wants to see a show this go-round. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll do South By Southwest again this year, because I’d really love to hear the new Prisoner songs live. Here’s the schedule so far:

Whiskeytown reunion? Don’t count on it

Like any sensible person, I do my best to resist click-bait in all its forms. But here’s a headline that I just could not resist:

Ryan Adams Says Whiskeytown Might Actually Get Back Together

What a wonderful world this would be if such a thing were possible. I cannot imagine it ever happening (although, if it did, I sure as heck would be lobbying University of Texas Press about updating “Losering”). Anyway, this came up in an interview with Ryan where the primary subjects were his upcoming Prisoner album and current studio project with Liz Phair. And here is what he said in response to a question about whether or not Whiskeytown might someday reunite:

“Well I mean maybe. It’s so funny that you mention [Whiskeytown] because there is something going on with that, but it’s still kind of on the down low,” Adams said. “Some of the folks that were in the band, and myself, feel like we have such funny stories to tell about how and in what way all of that happened and it was so funny it happened to US and I think we were all acutely aware, going ‘Wow, not only are we unprepared, but we suck on some level that we’re also aware of, and we were just having fun, so how do you temper that?’ Also being so young and so green to the thing that is the music business. It’s very strange to think that was sort of a side thing we were just trying out and that would’ve been the first sort of trip. I’m funny in the way where I have a dry sense of humor, and I think I’m probably a little bit more sarcastic than people can realize, especially in print, and I once in a humorous sort of way but I sort of meant it, I said ‘Oh i hate country music’ and there were a lot of purists that said, ‘Oh Ryan Adams has forgotten where he came from.’ Ironic baseball hats across America were probably chiming in on some message board somewhere and I thought, ‘yeah but that’s a funny statement to make cause it’s still pretty rooted in what I do — that sort of Grateful Dead, [Gram], The [Byrds] — finding those influences. I love the storytelling and I love what it is, but I think it’s been so long now if Whiskeytown were to ever try to make a record, and me carrying on with making the music I made from the beginning, before those sort of side things, it would be weird. It could be weird good but I don’t know. If it was the original lineup. We talk every year, a couple times a year. Everybody’s cool. It’s the same as it ever was.”

Same as it ever was, huh? Okay, then, here’s hoping.

Desperately seeking Caitlin (not Caitlyn) Cary…

So a bunch of us had some fun the other day at this poor fellow’s expense, for misspelling Whiskeytown alumnus Caitlin Cary’s name in a craigslist posting. But I probably should not be so quick to ridicule because the poster, Eric from Portland, has owned up to the mistake and corrected it in a followup solicitation. And for all you fiddle-playing women singers out there — dude is still looking. Just sayin’.

Bless his heart…

I think that this Eric fellow, who posted the craigslist solicitation below in Portland a week ago, might be a little more credible if he’d spelled Caitlin Cary’s name correctly. But I do wish him luck.

HT Thomas Cushman