by Frank Deutschen

Created on: October 22, 2008

Ryan Adams,poet laureate!

Although Ryan may not be as popular as Bob Dylan or Neil Young he is still a musical genius and a prolific character. Ryan has released more albums in the past four years than Bob or Neil have in the past ten. And not to take away from either Bob or Neil, he does have a better vocal capability than both of them. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a die hard fan of Dylan and Young but Ryan is way too underappreciated. I don't know if it's because of his own choosing, but he is one of the all time greats. Who else have you heard lately that writes with so much passion and conviction of heart?

Since I first heard him several years ago, he amazed me. He could sing about heartbreaks that I could instantly identify with. I believe it was Elton John who once said too, that called Ryan "oh great one!". Now if that isn't an endorsement from a bonafide superstar, what is? He has also written and produced for other artists; Tim McGraw and Willie Nelson being two examples. Even though Ryan was originally signed as an "alt-country" artist he is greatly influenced by other styles. I understand that his next release due at the end of October has a lot of heavy metal influences. I'm also aware that he has appreciation for RAP and HIP HOP. That, in of itself makes a great musician. Ryan, who is a high-school drop out is a master wordsmith and and a tunesmith; I read an article several years back, in which I believe he said that he gets his ideas from reading romance novels. This could add to the heartbreak that I identify with along with millions of other fans.

There have been several critics who have panned his live performances, and I'm not making any excuses for him; he has suffered from a debilitating heroin addiction. How many other great artists have put on subpar performances from time to time? I'm not justifying his actions, at times but the road is definitely draining. And as I stated before, he does have a spectacular voice! We should be blessed and fortunate that he has survived. Lately from what I understand he has been putting on some top notch shows since he cleaned himself up. Being that he also is only in his early thirties, I beleive that it is reasonable to speculate that we will be enjoying a plethora of material from him for many years to come. It is also reasonable to say that his music will continue to evolve into more of his non-traditional styles. I would like to see him work with a HIP HOP artist or two, it would be definitely different but great none the less. I'm hoping that more of the masses catch onto him and make him into the Superstar that he deservedly should be! That is how much I appreciate his artistry! I also would like to see him contribute to comic books because I know he is a huge collector and it would open him up to whole different fan base. Oh, and by the way a romance novel would be great too!

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