The Life and Times of John Vanderslice

*illustration by Drew Beckmeyer - check out his site here*


John Vanderslice - Fetal Horses (Romanian Names, 2009)
John Vanderslice - Romanian Names (Romanian Names, 2009)
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John Vanderslice - Wild Strawberries (Cellar Door, 2004)
"Wholly and totally brave I swam under dying Philippino light
Fighting and furious against the tide
'cause I lost our keys in the sea, diving deep under coral reef
Following treeline on the shore
I stumbled back to the road
Left you on the hood of a rented ford
I looked back, it was the last time I saw you alive
Still light follows the same rules that I do
Reflecting off the water never making it down to the bottom"

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John Vanderslice - Me and My 424
(The Life and Death of an American Fourtracker, 2002)

Spare a thought for poor old Ryan Adams (and his underappreciated career)

As some of you might already know, prolific songwriter Ryan Adams recently announced he would be leaving the music business, explaining that he's sick of being taken for granted and is battered by the road. "i lost more than anyone will ever know (hearing, someone i loved, my sense of dignity, a never ending losing battle with stage fright and now my hearing and balance due to an inner ear issue."

Apparently a show at Atlanta's Fox Theater on March 20 will be his "last venture" with his group The Cardinals. "Maybe we will play again sometime and maybe i will work my way back into some kind of music situation," he writes, "but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in and i wish everyone peace and happiness." As for how he'll be remembered, Ryan writes the following: "i am a punch-line and a footnote"... ouch.

 

Now in all fairness, lately he's kind of lost my interest, and something tells me I'm not alone there. But for him to just slip out the back door like this, well, just seems a bit sad and unfair.
 
Here are a few of my own highlights of his career so far:

 

  Come pick me up

To Be Young (is to be sad, is to be high)

  (Heartbreaker, 2000)

  

She wants to play hearts
Chin up, cheer up 

  (Demolition, 2002)

 

So alive 

 (Rock 'n Roll , 2003)
   

Fuck The Universe

 (Love is Hell, 2003)

 

spare a thought for the record industry.

*****

And finally, a few points of advice to musicians not wanting to end up like poor old Ryan Adams (and his underappreciated career):
 

-Don't release so damn much. If Ryan Adams' career isn't clear enough testament to that, just look at Robert Pollard, who single-handedly chased even his last few remaining fans away by releasing on average of an album per month for the past 20 odd years

 

-Don't blog. It just tends to make you look petty, narcissistic and touchy (Hey, Kanye). You may well be extremely pissed off at some c level celebrity you bumped into at a club on Wednesday night.  But chances are you won't even care about it anymore the next day. But if you blogged it, people will remember it (and Stereogum will likely have a feature on it).

-Stay away from Winona Ryder: Ok, the facts, well they kinda speak for themselves: Ryan Adams, Conor Oberst, Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum), Beck, Pete Yorn, etc. While there might not be any clear causal relationship that I can prove in these pages, they didn't exactly get better (after Winona) now did they?
 
-Don't announce your retirement from music when everyone knows you'll be back anyway. See ya around, Ryan!