![]() ![]() Elsewhere, the sparseness of “Under Your Breath” would fit neatly onto Heartbreaker “Sit And Listen To The Rain” revisits the charging guitar chords that drove Strangers Almanac “Easy Hearts” pairs more orchestral accents with sublime vocals from Adams and Cary and “Bar Lights” bring the album to a poignant and satisfying close complete with spontaneous studio chatter bookending the gab that opened Heartbreaker.īIOGRAPHY by Steve Huey A band with as turbulent an existence as Whiskeytown was bound to implode sooner or later, but by the time they did, they had one of the largest cult followings of any alt-country band. ![]() And then there’s “What The Devil Wanted”, a haunting piano signature with pops, clicks and bells punctuating the cloistered mood and unsettling vocal. Same for the Nilsson-flavored “Mirror Mirror”, where his vocals and Cary’s shine in bouncy pop terrain. The aforementioned “Paper Moon” (featuring orchestral arrangements by Johns’ father, legendary producer Glyn Johns), with its dreamy soundscape, is unlike anything Adams has done to date, and he pulls it off with aplomb. The album’s boldest experiments are also among its finest moments. Equally seductive and simple is “Crazy About You”, an unabashed profession of love that some Nashville lass could ride to the top of the country charts.Ĭredit producer and drummer Ethan Johns for giving each track its own sonic touch while still maintaining continuity. Another discrete vocal, somewhere between Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame and John Wesley Harding, appears for “Don’t Be Sad”, co-written with Daly and former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and one of the album’s richest musical slices. With “Jacksonville Skyline” and later “My Hometown” (which is Springsteenesque in more than just its title), Adams settles into first-person storytelling mode and adult ruminations on place and home, the former filled with evocative childhood images (skinned knees and cap guns), the latter with hopes of salvation rediscovered and sung in one of those aforementioned distinct voices. “Don’t Wanna Know Why” offers the first of several lilting and lovely choruses (“Breathe in/Breathe out/Carry on/Carry out/Try to/Never say goodbye”), with fine vocals and fiddle from Cary, who co-wrote the tune with Adams and Daly. The album opens with “Ballad Of Carol Lynn”, one of seven songs written with guitarist Mike Daly, and sets the stage for what’s to come with its muted horns, passionate vocal, and Adams’ piano and harmonica. What rings truer is Bob Dylan, not so much in musical style as in artistic development.įor the rest of us, however, it all sounds fresh and heartfelt. When Whiskeytown first surfaced, the most frequent comparison made to Adams was Gram Parsons. First, that it took Adams time to acknowledge himself as the leader, the singer, the songwriter, something special. Then there’s his memorable quote about how Whiskeytown was expected to be “the alt-country Nirvana.” As off-base as those descriptions turned out to be, they frame two key insights about the man and his band. As for the idea, Adams has said he once believed Whiskeytown might be like the Eagles, with different singers and songwriters stepping forth, but no true leader. For as much as Adams surely loves the notion of a “rawk” band (witness his recent SXSW set with the Pinkhearts), he progressively outgrew that framework with his bandmates. In hindsight, and with apologies to those musicians who contributed meaningfully to the band (most assuredly Cary and, on Pneumonia, Mike Daly), Whiskeytown might best be described as an incubator and an idea. ![]()
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