Ryan Adams

Call Ryan Adams what you will -- brooding mythmaker, alt-country messiah, garage-rock poser -- but if anything, he's prolific and stridently conscious of his art. Within two months of his last album, "Rock N Roll," Adams has released two EPs, "Love Is Hell," parts 1 and 2. They're a fascinating batch of 15 songs that when heard together tell of a heartbreaking journey from arrogance to defeat. "Part 1" finds Adams mostly barreling through his raucous brand of countrified rock; "Part 2" is more hushed and heavy on drunken harmonies, as if he's determined to turn every song into a barroom ballad.

The following was submitted by me&thee coffeehouse: On Friday, April 20, the me&thee welcomes Kim Richey to its stage. For fifteen years Kim Richey has been releasing album after album of joyful, original and heartfelt music which have earned her Grammy nominations, number 1 spots in the US and praise from top music press including Rolling Stone. Opening is Melissa Greener, who is one of those rare artists who appear on the scene with all their talents maturely developed. Blessed with a glorious, outsized, and utterly distinctive voice, Greener is an...

Cardinology Lost Highway ESSENTIAL "Stop" The already prolific and intermittently brilliant Adams hit a creative peak with 2007's emotionally and musically nuanced "Easy Tiger. " Shockingly for the music maverick, "Cardinology" follows a similar template as Adams gets even more comfy as the leader of his merry band. The group has become so keenly attuned to their leader's personal shifts that it's easy to understand why he wanted to include the band name on the cover.

RYAN ADAMS With Jessica Lea Mayfield At: Orpheum Theatre, Thursday night When Ryan Adams opens his mouth, one of two things usually happens. Deserved or not, he can come off as petty and petulant (Google his recent flap with Neil Finn and Janis Ian; it's complicated). Or he can sing some of the most deeply felt ruminations on love and loneliness in a voice as lyrical as his songwriting. Adams took the latter approach Thursday night at the Orpheum Theatre with an inspired two-hour show that mirrored the intimacy of his new album.

Ryan Adams has approached many of his records with a snide wink and a snarl, but not his new release, a double CD called "Cold Roses. " Boasting original songs that pay homage to the dreamy, folk-country psychedelia of the Grateful Dead and Neil Young, it's a capable effort that exudes honesty, not satire. It's almost as if Adams deliberately designed a mix of the Dead's "American Beauty" and Young's "Harvest. " That's a lofty goal -- and Adams is not totally up to the task -- but his project is surprisingly convincing.

Ryan Adams's microphone was set up on the side of the Bank of America Pavilion stage on Sunday - the universal symbol for rock star-turned-band member. Adams, the one-time enfant terrible of alt-country (and rampant dabbler in glam, jam, mope-rock, hip-hop, and punk), is pointedly sharing his spotlight with the Cardinals, his backing band of three years. Recently Adams has started taking his name off the marquee altogether, and it's easy to see why. The Cardinals are a luminous, versatile unit - on a par with Crazy Horse, the Heartbreakers, and the Band -...

RYAN ADAMS With Jessica Lea Mayfield At: Orpheum Theatre, Thursday night When Ryan Adams opens his mouth, one of two things usually happens. Deserved or not, he can come off as petty and petulant (Google his recent flap with Neil Finn and Janis Ian; it's complicated). Or he can sing some of the most deeply felt ruminations on love and loneliness in a voice as lyrical as his songwriting. Adams took the latter approach Thursday night at the Orpheum Theatre with an inspired two-hour show that mirrored the intimacy of his new...

ROCK Ryan Adams , ‘Ashes & Fire' Following an uncharacteristic hiatus, singer-songwriter Ryan Adams returns with this lovely, low-key effort. A man of ever-changing moods - from brash rock to country jaunts to shimmering pop - Adams is in a mellow frame of mind on "Ashes & Fire. " The largely acoustic album throws off the aural equivalent of a warm, low lamplight and could serve as a perfect soundtrack for meandering late-night conversations about love and hope and sex and dreams, both wistful and optimistic.

Ryan Adams takes a lot of flak for being, well, Ryan Adams. His ebullient stage behavior routinely gets him in trouble. Every year brings a rash of new EPs, collaborations, and/or crazy talk about his latest plans (whatever happened to that rap record he was supposedly working on?). His romances - with Parker Posey, Juliana Hatfield, and now his fiancee, pop star Mandy Moore - have fed the rumor mills over the years. But love him or hate him, Adams is an indefatigable rock star, with talent and fame to spare and often undermined by both.

A few years ago, riding the post-Whiskeytown buzz of his solo debut, "Heartbreaker," alt-country bad boy Ryan Adams joshed with a New York crowd by breaking into a mocking cover of Oasis's anthem "Wonderwall," aping Liam Gallagher's vinegary sneer and rendering the would-be epic ridiculous. On Tuesday night, at the end of a 2 1/2-hour show that ended only after the house told him it was quitting time, Adams stood before a sold-out Avalon audience, alone with an acoustic guitar, and sang the same song as solemnly as a hymn.

ON WGBH Greater Boston 7 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) Chef Lidia Bastianich discusses her new book "Lidia's Italy in America. " Celtic Women "Believe" 8 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) An all-new music spectacular recorded live in Atlanta. ON CHRONICLE Northern Getaways 7:30 p.m. WCVB-TV (Channel 5) Some favorite spots in Vermont and New Hampshire. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS The Diane Rehm Show 10 a.m. WGBH-FM (89.7) The increased survival rates of cancer patients and the challenges of funding treatment regimes.

ROCK Ryan Adams , ‘Ashes & Fire' Following an uncharacteristic hiatus, singer-songwriter Ryan Adams returns with this lovely, low-key effort. A man of ever-changing moods - from brash rock to country jaunts to shimmering pop - Adams is in a mellow frame of mind on "Ashes & Fire. " The largely acoustic album throws off the aural equivalent of a warm, low lamplight and could serve as a perfect soundtrack for meandering late-night conversations about love and hope and sex and dreams, both wistful and optimistic.

On Sept. 11, 2001, alt-country troubadour Ryan Adams released what would become his most successful single to date. That same day, the song's simple video hit VH1 and MTV. The timing was almost eerie, given the song's title - "New York, New York" - and the prominence of the Twin Towers in its NYC-centric video, which Adams reveals was inspired by his love of "Friends. " Now, 10 years after 9/11, Adams revisits that peculiar-yet-crucial moment in his career, and the anthemic rise of "New York, New York," off his Sept.

Brian Tallet didn't mince words or make excuses. Called upon to record his first career save, the Toronto Blue Jays left-hander didn't get the job done. "Yeah, it was a pretty (bad) result, huh?" Tallet said after coughing up two 10th-inning runs in a 6-5 Baltimore Orioles victory over Toronto on Tuesday night. "It's what happens when you don't throw strikes early in the game, early when you get in there and let those guys get on base. Anything can happen and that's what happened.

The Baltimore Orioles botched their bunt defense, muffed an infield pop fly for an error, twice failed to get bunts down successfully and blew a one-run lead in the ninth inning. Yet one swing of rookie Ryan Adams' bat erased their many miscues. Adams capped a two-run, 10th-inning rally with an RBI single and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Tuesday night. "It wasn't looking good there for a minute, but we battled back," said Adams. Matt Wieters led off the Baltimore 10th by drawing a walk off Brian Tallet (0-2)

NATE LEAVITT INFERENCE It's something of a wonder that Nate Leavitt even had the time to write and record the tracks that make up his debut solo EP, given his regular gigs as guitarist for busy Boston bands the Blizzard of 78 and Parlour Bells, both of which also have new EPs out. Granted, Leavitt's own mostly acoustic EP is modest at four tracks, but it goes a long way toward effectively reflecting his affinity for the softer sounds...

This double disc set of leftovers from the sessions that would eventually spawn 2007’s sublime “Easy Tiger’’ comes courtesy of Adams’s own label Pax Am. As is often the case with double albums, “III/IV’’ could easily be whittled down to a single excellent disc, but instead offers two pretty good ones. This being the chameleonic and shape-shifting Adams, the moods and sounds run the gamut from laid-back roots-rock to insistent power-pop to flirtations with metal guitars.