Ryan Adams Live. In Portland. (Finally got to see him)

Full disclosure, this post will be wrought with sentimentality and such. You've been forewarned.

This past Sunday, I finally got to see Ryan Adams. I still remember my sister "making" me listen to his first record, Heartbreaker (coincidentally named after the Mariah Carey tune, because he was such a big fan of hers, and it just really fit with the songs on the album, such a great break-up album), all the way back in 2000. She was going to Bates College, about to graduate, and she was the Program Director for the college radio station (WRBC), which we would listen to at home, together, in high school. I remember putting in a cassette tape and recording certain shows and writing down all the bands we thought were super cool. Bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement, Superchunk, etc. That station, along with my cousin Jason, and my job at Bull Moose Music really opened my ears to great music that I probably wouldn't have ever discovered. It all shaped me into the music lover I am today, honestly.

But, upon listening to Ryan Adams, I was struck by this "new," interesting sound I hadn't been exposed to, yet. He was labeled as alt-country. His many records that would follow would bend many genres, and his sophomore record "Gold," really put him on the map thanks in large part to the lead single, "New York, New York" coming out right around the 9-11-01 tragedy. The song took on a new life and became an unlikely patriotic tune (whether Adams wanted it to or not). And then there was "When the Stars Go Blue" which was covered multiple times and somehow became a big hit for country singer Tim McGraw when he rearranged it as a single for himself. And then, there's the cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall" that was featured on a widely popular teen-dramedy on Fox "The O.C." (which I unashamedly adored and loved and appreciated for all its drama and emo-tendencies). Ryan Adams became a fixture in pop culture. He also went down a dark path of drug and alcohol abuse that left a few of his records mediocre, at best. Every now and then, he would drop a song or a record that just nailed it. He married Mandy Moore about 5-6 years ago, he completely rearranged and covered (or paid homage) to Taylor Swift's "1989" album. If you haven't heard it, listen. It's amazing. His latest record is "Prisoner" and it's yet another break-up album, coming on the heels of his divorce from Mandy Moore. He apparently recorded over 40 songs during the sessions. He's already released a "B-sides" record. And now he's touring behind it all. And his sets are career-spanning. It's like he is not leaving anything out. And in Portland, he played a couple of extra songs, because he seemed to really be feeling the crowd's energy. It was an incredible experience.

The whole time, I couldn't help but think about my sister, since it was because of her that I became such a huge fan of his. Then, I started thinking about my first girlfriend, Shauna. A true "country girl" if I ever met one. Sure, we had troubles (that's why the relationship ended), but we connected almost immediately over music. I took her to one of her first concerts, Taking Back Sunday in Boston (circa "Louder Now" era). We listened to a lot of music together. She cried while listening to Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and I knew I found a special kind of girl. I played Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlanticism" while driving home from the TBS concert and I still remember her saying it was one of the most beautifully tragic records. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. She loved country music, first and foremost. Why is this important, you ask? Well, for a few of reasons: 1) up to that point I tried to avoid country music, unless it was Johnny Cash, in particular, and I have to immediate an affinity for the likes of Shania Twain and Faith Hill- both more pop than country, at the time, but for some reason when we were together, I found myself listening to country often and if it had not been for her, I would not have discovered Taylor Swift one day, while watching CMT and suddenly her first hit's video "Tim McGraw" (aptly titled) came on and I instantly became a fan and just knew she would become a huge star (yup, that's right, I had a premonition, what can I say, I can call things like that) and 2) she heard Tim McGraw's version of "When the Stars Go Blue" and loved it, but I said, hold on a minute, there's this guy, Ryan Adams, who wrote the original version and it's amazing. And so, I remember, one night, standing outside of her house, all the way out in the country, while my car warmed up from the February-March Maine winter coldness, and putting on Ryan Adams, leaving the car door open, holding Shauna and we slow danced, right there in her driveway to his version. At the end, we kissed and she said, wow, that's a beautiful song, with a tear forming in the corners of her eyes. That was the night I fell in love, for the first time. Truly. And so, our nearly 2-year love affair/relationship ensued, with lots of ups and downs.

And that's where I'm at. When I was at Ryan Adams' show Sunday night and he started to play "When the Stars Go Blue," I immediately thought of her, Shauna, and that night out by my car. And it made me think about how music is attached to so many memories we often have and/or how they can evoke feelings (good or bad). With Shauna, I have quite a list of songs/bands.

Ryan Adams- When the Stars Go Blue

Rascal Flatts- What Hurts the Most

Taylor Swift- Tim McGraw

Taking Back Sunday- MakeDamnSure

Brand New- Jesus Christ

Death Cab for Cutie- I Will Follow You Into the Dark

Jack's Mannequin- The Mixed Tape

Snow Patrol- Chasing Cars

Damien Rice- 9 Crimes

Dashboard Confessional- Stolen

Dierks Bently- Settle for a Slowdown

Miranda Lambert- Kerosene

Foo Fighters- Everlong

Kelly Clarkson- Sober

And that's just off the top of my head...

And that's just one girl that I've dated. I could keep going, but I won't, for the sake of this post already being long enough. Instead, I'll get to the Ryan Adams show. It was amazing. He nearly played for 2.5 hours. He stretched a couple of songs into epic 10-minute versions with lots of guitar shredding and drum solos. It was a career-spanning setlist where he just didn't leave anything out.