Whiskeytown

As a longtime Ryan Adams fan who never got fully into his former band Whiskeytown, the recent Deluxe Edition release of Stranger's Almanac has proved a terrific revelation. Whiskeytown's work always felt uneven to me, for some reason. But Stranger's Alamanac is a near perfect album back to front. Part of my lack of love for Whiskeytown was ignorance - I always loved the songs like Houses on the Hill, Everything I Do (which I heard in Blue Smoke, weirdly), Dancing with the Women at the Bar, 16 Days, and Avenues. But there are songs that fill the gaps here that I'd heard but never fully appreciated - particularly the very pretty Somebody Remembers the Rose and the haunting Not Home Anymore. Highest recommendation to both the original album and the deluxe edition, which includes a live performance and a ton of killer demos (including a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song Dreams).

For whatever reason, the only part of the Whiskeytown Austin City Limits performance I could find on youtube was 16 Days. Great show.