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Artist News
Ryan Adams quits music and blogging
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 16 January 2009
In a lengthy, and now deleted post on The Cardinals website, Ryan Adams has announced that the band he fronts will play their final gig in Atlanta, Georgia before splitting.
On top of that, Adams revealed that he plans to bow out of music altogether for the foreseeable future, and stop blogging, while he works on two books, attempts to recover from some inner ear problems and rediscover what it was that excited him about music in his youth. Except he took a lot longer to say all that.
Adams revealed that he suffers from Meniere’s disease, which combines symptoms of tinnitus and vertigo to make for one unpleasant time. This, he said, was the cause of apparently drunken behaviour at recent gigs and has left him dizzy and nauseous on regular occasions.
He wrote: “I am ready for quieter times as I think it is very evident I am struggling with some balance and hearing issues … I won’t be blogging here anymore – but not for effect – it just is not being kind to myself – I need a life that is mine – I need to grow up and grow into who I have subtly been working back towards”.
He may be off blogging, but will still continue writing, promising two more books, in addition to his previously reported anthology of poetry and short stories, ‘Infinity Blues’, which will also be published this year.
Although he seemed fairly committed to finding new outlets for his creativity, Adams did not rule out a return to music in the future.
He said: “Maybe I will work my way back into some kind of music situation but this is the time for me to step back now … My dream was to try and tap into [the] energy I saw watching Minutemen VCR tapes … of Mike Watt’s crazy shaking leg and his electric fingers – or how Sonic Youth droned into beautiful clouds those guitars shaking, Kim and Steve rattling the pulsing lines into feverish thudding imaginary subway cars racing through my heart”.
