Whiskeytown: Strangers Almanac Deluxe Edition (2008)

New Wax


A short-lived yet important cornerstone in the early alt. country scene, North Carolina's Whiskeytown might be best known as the early vehicle that catapulted Ryan Adams into a solo career. Pairing the young songwriter's prolific talent with the harmonies and fiddle playing of Caitlin Cary, the band made some important material but only managed a few albums and ultimately broke up in 1999. Now available in a brand new deluxe packaging with 26 extra tracks, Whiskeytown's 1997 album Strangers Almanac marked the band's major label debut. More polished than 1995's Faithless Street, the album was produced by Jim Scott, who worked on Tom Petty's classic Wildflowers album. The bonus material on this deluxe edition kicks off with five live radio performances that are decent if not consistently excellent. The second disc has a wealth of unreleased material and stripped-down versions of album tracks. It also contains a handful of covers including Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone," Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," and Gram Parson's "Luxury Liner." While there's surely some disposable material here, there's enough quality to warrant a purchase for any serious fan (if you don't already have most of this stuff). I probably wouldn't recommend this to casual fans, but there's enough here to please any Whiskeytown junkie, and it's an interesting glimpse into Adams' potential. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Whiskeytown - 16 Days (Acoustic)
MP3: Whiskeytown - Houses On The Hill (Early Version)
MP3: Whiskeytown - Indian Gown

Tags: Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, Review, Strangers Almanac