WHISKEYTOWN RECORDING FOLLOW-UP TO STRANGERS ALMANAC; ALBUM BOASTS
 PIANO-HEAVY ARRANGEMENTS, NEW DIRECTIONS IN COMPOSITION, GUEST JAMES IHA


 WOODSTOCK, N.Y., Jan. 25, 1999 - "Strangers Almanac was the kind of
 record where you close your eyes and go to this place that's very sad
 and really scary.  It had a floating-in-space quality," says Whiskeytown
 singer-songwriter-guitarist Ryan Adams of the band's last album.  "This
 record is as realist as the last record was abstract in that there's a
 more direct assessment of my fears."
 Adams and longtime musical co-conspirators Mike Daly (pedal steel, lap
 steel, 12-string, electric piano, organ) and Caitlin Cary (fiddle,
 vocals) have been teetering away from traditional composition of late.
 "This record has opened the door for us as a songwriting team," Daly
 explains.  "And as musicians, we're taking the established style of
 Ryan's songs and pushing it a lot further, pushing the songs to the
 fullest place they can go.  A lot of that has had to do with Ryan
 learning how to play piano and me being able to handle some of the more
 conventional instruments.  We're really moving beyond our comfort zone."
 Though they remain committed to the "American rock" that made them a
 critical favorite, Whiskeytown is now bringing to the fore influences
 that had receded somewhat.  These include The Clash, Joe Jackson and The
 Zombies.  Echoes of The Band and Adams' customary Keith Richards-Exile
 on Main Street-American-country blues swagger are also in evidence.
 Overseeing the new disc is producer/multi-instrumentalist Ethan Johns
 (son of legendary producer Glyn Johns), with Grammy nominee Trina
 Shoemaker (Sheryl Crow) serving as engineer.  Comments Johns, whose
 credits include albums by Emmylou Harris and Jon Brion, among others:
 "What's got me most excited is that Ryan is willing to take the
 traditional concepts of record-making and expand on them without falling
 back on the easier ways of expressing himself.  As a result, the record
 will be more immediate and challenging to the listener."
 Among these expansions are Adams' growing facility with Wurlizter organ
 and piano and increasingly sophisticated grasp of arrangements and
 composition.  "I'm backing off more now and letting the music convey the
 emotions I used to depend on the lyrics to spell out," Adams explains.
 "That way I can get a lot closer to capturing the moments that tear me
 up - those terrible, nostalgic things I'm always arriving at, maybe a
 bit late due to excessive verbiage."
 Adams' relocation to New York City and his "coming out of the dark" has
 allowed him to research his interests in music and art and life more
 fully.  This experiential blossoming is represented in the 40-odd songs
 Whiskeytown is currently recording at Dreamland Studios in Woodstock,
 N.Y.  Once a church, the facility is packed with hundreds of
 instruments.  "It's hard not to just pick up all this stuff and let it
 flow," Adams admits.
 The record-in-progress also reflects the presence of Whiskeytown fan and
 Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha.  Though Iha joined the band in
 Chapel Hill at a surprise show at Local 506 and in London at the
 Borderline (where Whiskeytown cranked out a Buzzcocks-esqe rendition of
 Iha's "Be Strong Now," from his solo album, Let It Come Down), Adams
 says Iha's participation in the studio arose casually.  "I met James at
 the Troubadour in L.A. at one of our shows and then again in London,"
 the Whiskeytown frontman reports.  "He drops in for dinner now and again
 in New York, and we sit around and talk about The Band till we're blue
 in the face.  We had a fishing trip planned in my home state of North
 Carolina and it turned into a studio session in Hoboken, N.J., that
 lasted for a week."
 "It's a blast hanging out with these guys and getting to make records,"
 Adams continues.  "The trick is to make one that we're all proud of and
 that other people can dig, too.  This is the third time around, and
 honestly, I'm pretty glad to be feeling I've got the hang of things."
 Whiskeytown's legion of devoted fans will be able to hear this
 accomplishment for themselves when the band's new album, tentatively
 titled Go Bye Bye Music (Outpost Recordings), is released late this
 summer.
 Outpost Recordings is a joint venture with Geffen Records, which is
 owned by Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com), a unit of The
 Seagram Company Ltd., a global beverage and entertainment company.