PAX-AM Sessions Chronology***UPDATE 2025*** (ALIEN USA, PRISONER trilogy, etc.)

 Updates re: 2022 albums and chronology; personnel info, etc. 

ALIEN USA 

2xLP with The Shining at Pax Am...fall 2013 after scrapped 2nd album with Glyn Johns (HAYWIRE a. k. a. TOO BORED TO RUN: "Shining Through the Dark"; "Kim"- version 1; "In the Shadows"; "It Won't Heal"; "Haywire"; early versions of " Too Bored to Run", "I Do Not Feel Like Being Good", "How Much Light"; etc.)

Personnel: Ryan Adams, Charlie Stavish, Mike Viola, Marshall Vore; Jeremy Stacey; others... 

The DEVOLVER album except for "Free Yourself"  (new song*); released 2022. "I Am Alone" with Johnny T. (?) from Prisoner 2014-15 sessions. CHRIS album tracks: "Flicker in the Fade"; " Schizophrenic Babylon"; " Chris"; " Lookout (The Past)"; "Burn in the Night"; 'On My Life"; plus "I Can See the Light" and "Nuclear War" (released on Sword and Stone in 2024); "Not Trash Anymore" (released on Self Portrait in late 2025)

S/T sessions at Pax-AM  (with Mike Viola; Jeremy Stacey; Tal Wilkenfeld; Marshall Vore; Johnny Depp; Mandy Moore)

1984/1985/1986/1987/1983 (Ryan solo)

The Shining II sessions 

"Do You Still Love Me?" from PRISONER (2017)

Personnel: Ryan Adams; Daniel Clarke; Charlie Stavish; Jason Boesell; Mike Viola

Other tracks possibly include "Love Me Don't"; "Fantasy File"; "Do You Feel"  from FM album released in 2022.

PRISONER pt. 1 and 2  recorded summer 2014-spring 2015 . "As  'Heartbreaker' as it gets" - DRA, 2016 interview discussing the two-part solo project he made prior to the recording of 1989. 

25 songs recorded for two part double album. 23 songs including "Dive"; "You Don't Love Me"; "I'll Wait"; "Replaced"; "Take It Back"; "Still A Cage"; "Moving Target"; "Say What You Said"; "I Got Lost"; "Spinning Wheel"; " Was I Wrong"; " Letting the Light In"; "Baby I Love You"; PRISONER 2017 album tracks except for "Do You Still Love Me" (taken from The Shining's scrapped 2nd album sessions following tour in 2014).

1989 

PRISONER part 3 (Pax-AM sessions 2015-16)  with Johnny T.

"So Helpless"; "I Am Alone"; "The Cold" and PRISONER B-SIDES ; others ? 

L. A. RAIN MUSIC (Feb - Apr 2018 at Pax-AM)

Personnel: Ryan Adams; Tod W.; Aaron Ficca; Charlie Stavish

17 songs including tracks from BC, WEDNESDAYS; R & J ("L. A. Rain") and FM (except for "When She Smiles", "So Dumb", and The Shining tracks) See LA RAIN MUSIC entry. "Sword and Stone" (released on Sword and Stone in 2024); "Mercy" (released on Heatwave in 2024). 

Wednesdays / Big Colors / Chris*

Personnel: Ryan Adams; Johnny T. ; Beatriz Artola; Don Was; Benmont Tench; John Mayer; others. 

48 songs recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NY in July 2018. 43 songs for BC / Wednesdays / R & J* albums (except "In the Meadow" and new PaxAm tracks*); "Virginia in the Rain"; 4 others. Overdubs were added to tracks from the Pax-Am sessions. See I WAS HERE entry. "I Was Here", "Manhattan in the Rain", and "Blizzard in the Room" released on Sword and Stone in 2024; "Virginia in the Rain", "Thunderstorm Tears" (f.k.a. "Who is Gonna Save Me Now"), "Take the Money" were later released on Self Portrait in 2025.

CHRIS sessions  at Pax-AM

Scrapped by Ryan because he was wasted and did a 'rush-job' on the original planned 2xLP. Overdubs were done on "Virginia in the Rain"; "Chris"; "Schizophrenic Babylon"; "Manhattan in the Rain"; and other tracks from prior sessions intended for the original album. "Manhattan in the Rain" was streamed on Ryan's IG along with other tracks that were slated for CHRIS in Sept. 2021. Several tracks were released on Romeo & Juliet--as well as other albums, including Self Portrait (2025). The 2022 released title track was originally from the 2013 Alien USA sessions.

Personnel: Ryan Adams; ?

"Throw It Away", "At Dawn", "Virginia in the Rain"; "Don't Follow"; "When She Smiles"; "So Dumb"; "Nightmare"; "Losers"; "Earthquake"; "They Will Know Our Love"; "Hold Me Together"; "Memory Lane"; "Never Run"; "Make It Stop"; "Trash Man", "Clown";  others ? 

See WOLF BROTHERS entry below

Capitol Studios with Don Was (Fall 2018)…most of the original WEDNESDAYS album (including "Nobody Wins" and "Pennsylvania Moon"---renamed to "Anything" and "My Heaven", respectively--for R&J album);"Sunflowers"; "Fool's Game";  "Magic Trick"; "Mirage"; "Kissing Flowers"; "Liar Machine"; "Name and Number"; others ? (except "When You Cross Over"; "Birmingham"; "Mamma" and 'Take Me Home"). Personnel: Ryan Adams; Don Was; Beatriz Artola; Benmont Tench; Stephen Pratt; Brendan McCusker; Emmylou Harris; Jason Isbell*; others. 
Overdubs were added to tracks from PaxAm and ELS sessions. Jason Isbell is rumored to have participated in overdubs (most likely guitar) for "Birmingham". The song was recorded with Tod, Aaron, and Charlie at Pax-Am back in the Spring of 2018 (along with "When You Cross Over" and possibly "Like a Heatwave" and "Red and Orange Special"). John Mayer overdubbed a guitar solo on "Dreaming You Backwards" that only appears on the UK import LP version (instead of the solo Ryan did himself on the US LP editions). "Fool's Game" released on Self Portrait in 2025.

Ryan invited the then surviving members of The Cardinals to initially record at ELS prior to the July session but it didn't happen, as we know. 

Session with The Wolf Bros. at Pax-AM, April 2019.  
 "Pacific Line"; "Trouble on Wheels" (streamed on IG in 2019). The original 'CHRIS' album was rumored to be a double album more in the style of Cold Roses (his brother's "favourite"). It was supposedly scrapped because Ryan said "it was bullshit" or something to that effect. "Manhattan in the Rain" was streamed on his IG during the ELS sessions in July 2018. The actual CHRIS album released in 2022 is believed to actually be PRISONER 2/3 (teased for release along with Blackhole and the live albums Capitol Theatre with Stringdusters and Exile on Meryl Streep--the Rolling Stones' double album performed lived in NOLA); mentioned on his IG, spring 2018. 'L.A. Rain' had also been mentioned as "17 new songs just recorded." Ryan announced he had scrapped that album in April 2018. After that, we know he entered ELS in July 2018 and cut 48 songs during his time there; he recorded 19 songs in one day, reportedly. 

Romeo & Juliet / Self Portrait 

Side writing against Heartbreaker' (fall 2021)

"Too Old to Die Young", "I Am a Rollercoaster", "Saturday Night Forever", "Look What You Did" (f.k.a. "Don't Leave Me Out to Die"), "Castles in the Sand" (Released on Self Portrait in 2025); "Counting to Zero"; "Amethyst";  others ?

Demo sessions at Pax-Am including: "I Can't Remember", "Romeo and Juliet", "Desperate Times", "Something's Missing", "At Home with the Animals", 'Theo is Dreaming", "This is Your House" (released on Romeo & Juliet); "Theo" (f.k.a. "What is Left") , "Bye Bye Balloons", "Please Shut the Fuck Up", "Try Again Tomorrow", "Lovers Under the Moon", "Stormy Weather" except "Valentine"; "Down the Drain" (released on 1985); others ?

Cover songs: "Honky Tonk Girl", "The One I Love", "Blue Monday", "Shiny Happy People"; others ?

CARDINALS Mach 3 demos

Personnel: Ryan Adams; Chris Stills; Don Was; Brad Pemberton; Daniel Clarke

2023 demos for a proposed double-album: "Mirror Man"; "Miracle"; "Lover, I'll Try"; "Starcrossed"; "Love Sick"; others ?

ALIVE, vol. 1

Live recordings from tour with 'new' Cardinals; other two volumes cancelled.

CHANGES

Live album of solo acoustic cover songs initially released as singles.

String overdubs for Prisoners Live / Another Wednesday

circa 2023 

String overdubs for Changes / Heartbreaker '25 / Self Portrait / Animal