Waaaaait a minute. Didn’t I, who have professed no love for much of anything Ryan Adams has done in the past half-decade or so, just run a post on the man last week? Well yes, but I wasn’t at all prepared for the enthusiasm with which the contest in that post was received and coincidentally, I’ve just been given another DRA-related prize to give away. So I am revising/amending/what have you the contest to accomodate.

It will work like this: the original contest for the Easy Tiger LP, CD and poster, open only to Canadians, will still close tonight at midnight. BUT all non-winning entries will automatically be carried over to this new contest, which is a fancy-pants Easy Tiger lithograph autographed by Ryan himself (check it out). And since this contest, which comes courtesy of Filter, will be open to residents of the United States as well, I’ll ask that entries follow the same criteria as before – leave me a comment on this post saying which Ryan Adams song is your favourite (and the album it’s from, to help vote tabulation). Whiskeytown compositions are also eligible. A winner will be selected from the combined entries from the first contest and this one, which will close at midnight, July 4. Please be sure to leave a valid or decipherable email address I can contact you at.

This recent flurry of activity has prompted me to revisit some of Adams’ back catalog and reminded me of just how brilliant Heartbreaker was. This isn’t meant as a point of comparison to his recent stuff, that’s a horse that no longer needs beating, but just as a comment on the album on its own. It really is magnificent. So it’s no surprise that of the informal poll I was conducting via the original contest, 32% of the favourite songs came from that record. 19% were from Gold (the double-disc edition), 19% from Whiskeytown, 19% from his 2005 troika and only 11% from what I’m calling the Demolition era (the four shelved records that made up that compilation, plus the Love Is Hell and Rock N Roll releases). Curious to see if this ratio changes much with additional entries… I’m guessing no.

And to round things out, an interview with The AV Club, a short feature on Adams from Exclaim! and a the interview that it was culled from. Spinner has a couple of exclusive live videos of Adams and the Cardinals performing a song from Easy Tiger and another from Cold Roses. Finally, the first video from Easy Tiger is for the most directly rocking track from the album, “Halloweenhead”. Yahoo has an exclusive on it for now and has protected the content by geographic region – if you’re in Canada, use the first link. If you’re in the US, use the second. If you’re in neither, well too bad – though Yahoo UK seems to have two more live clips from the same session – or at least the same room – as those Spinner vids and they’re not behind any kind of territorial restrictions so everyone can share and enjoy.

Video: Ryan Adams – “Halloweenhead” (for Canada)
Video: Ryan Adams – “Halloweenhead” (for USA)

What else we got… Wilco are in town on Saturday for a show at Massey Hall. Jeff Tweedy apologizes to NOW for being a grump in interviews, thanks eye for comparing them to Television, Nels Cline shares a guitar tip with Spinner and The Boston Herald takes a wander through Wilco’s discography.

Patterson Hood gives Paste an update on the new album from the Drive-By Truckers as well as working with soul legend Bettye LaVette. He also talks to Savannah Now about recent goings-on in the Trucker camp. Ex-Trucker Jason Isbell, meanwhile, talks to Commercial Appeal about his new record Sirens Of The Ditch, out July 10. He’s at the El Mocambo here in Toronto on July 24.

Shows via For The Records: John Vanderslice is at the Horseshoe on October 1 and The Raveonettes are at Lee’s on October 14. Vanderslice’s new record Emerald City is out July 24. There’s an MP3. You can get it below.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “White Dove”

Totally overslept this morning and if my cat hadn’t decided to walk on my head for a good half hour, I’d probably still be asleep. Good kitty.