Heartbreaker Album

A classic. The sine qua non of Ryan's albums. Where promise met execution head on.Heartbreaker
is a near perfect record, the kind that never gets dated, with songs
that slowly work themselves into the our subconscious musical heritage.
It's also our best seller ever.Upon its release in 2000, it was
IMMEDIATELY apparent that Ryan had taken a momentous leap forward with
his songwriting and songcraft, abilities that had been merely hinted at
in his days with Whiskeytown.
For such a fully formed, confident set of songs to come out of nowhere,
with their easy amalgam of country and rock stylings, seemed
impossible. Heartbreaker almost single handedly re-defined what
was possible for roots music and moved in firmly into the mainstream
without a whiff of compromised quality.This raggedy folk-punk
confessional, with its stripped down band and sparse arrangements
combine to create a record full of soul-baring songs. Get yourself
together because Ryan climbs all over your emotions with these tunes of
desperation, loss and hope. It's a record you'll want to put on late at
night when you're too drunk to fall asleep, but too sober to face
staying awake. Features some hefty guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and Kim Richey.(From Bloodshot Records)