Ryan Adams’ ‘comeback trail’ leads him to the Mahaffey

In the almost-30 years since he became an alt-rock darling, Ryan Adams – who’s scheduled to perform Wednesday at the Mahaffey Theater with his band, the Cardinals – has watched success come and go like changing traffic lights.

Right now, he’s attempting to climb out of a pretty severe career low.

The North Carolina native was a founder of the country-imbued band Whiskeytown, which sounded like prime-era Rolling Stones fronted by Gram Parsons. For its brief run (1994-99), Whiskeytown, along with Chicago’s Wilco, established the prototype for later, similar groups: A smart singer/songwriter out in front of unassailable and shape-shifting musicians blending rock and country, acoustic and electric. In a way, Adams, along with Wilco founder Jeff Tweedy, invented the Americana genre.

Adams, however, has always been the restless sort. Launching a solo career in 2000, he has written and recorded 25 albums that range from hard rock to pop to folk back to country/rock, with the occasional nod to hip hop, R&B and other styles.

Artists from Elton John to Willie Nelson to Stephen King sang his praises, although there were more than a few question marks in the air when he released a song-for-song “tribute” to Taylor Swift’s 1989 album in 2015.

His popularity nosedived after a 2019 New York Times story leveled accusations of sexual harassment against him, from his ex-wife Mandy Moore and other woman performers including singer Phoebe Bridgers. Overnight, he went from “it” boy to poster boy for the #MeToo movement, and became a well-publicized pariah in the music business.

In 2020, Adams – who had initially denied the claims – admitted they were true via lengthy statement to the U.K.’s Daily Mail newspaper. He profusely apologized and credited his newfound sobriety: “This period of isolation and reflection made me realize that I needed to make significant changes in my life.”

None of this, of course, dampens the vitality or impact of his best music. He continued to be prolific if not terribly popular, putting out five all-new studio albums in 2022 alone. So far in 2023, he’s covered Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks in their entirety.

Wednesday’s concert will feature Adams with a “new” version of the Cardinals that includes bassist Don Was, guitarist Chris Stills, drummer Brad Pemberton and keyboard player Daniel Clarke. Reviews from earlier tour dates indicate the show will include lengthy, Grateful Dead-style jams, and cover tunes: Michigan’s Oakland Press reported Adams and company played Alice in Chains, the Doors, Black Sabbath and a medley of Kiss songs during the three-hour performance.

Tickets for the Mahaffey performance are here.