Hear Ryan Adams’ Bluegrass Covers Of Slayer & Black Sabbath, Improvised “Frightened And Rabid” At Newport Folk Fest
Ryan Adams returned to the famed Newport Folk Festival yesterday, where he performed bluegrass versions of his songs with some assistance from the Infamous Stringdusters and Nicki Bluhm. He started things off with a rootsy cover of Slayer’s “South Of Heaven” and closed the set with a rendition of Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard,” and in the middle, he improvised an entire (surprisingly good!) song based around the phrase “I’m frightened and I’m rabid,” in reference to Frightened Rabbit who were playing on another stage. In the pantheon of silly off-the-cuff Ryan Adams songs, it’s right up there with “No Shirt” and “Three Fuckin’ Balloons.” Watch some fan-shot footage of the Slayer cover and listen to audio of the entire set below via NPR; “Frightened And Rabid” starts around 26:55, and “The Wizard” picks up at about 52:40.
