A couple weeks back, apropos of nothing more than Austin City Limits’ announcement of an upcoming Father John Misty show, veteran alt-country rocker Ryan Adams struck out on Twitter at the man born Josh Tillman. “It’s so wonderful you booked the most self-important asshole on earth to ‘break it all down for us’ while he does his Nick Cave impression,” Adams wrote of “Elton Josh,” so called because “he sounds like shit Elton John but if he was just sitting in a corner staring at his hands on LSD.” Well then!
Adams subsequently deleted the insults and followed up with an apologetic Instagram post. “I am very tired but it’s no excuse to be cruel to others, even if they have shown me that same meanness,” Adams offered by way of explanation. Still, we scratched our heads: Why was Adams so pissed at Misty? Was this sour grapes left over FJM’s cover of Adams’s cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 back in 2015?
If Father John Misty has any idea, he’s not letting on. “God only knows where that—I don’t know where that came from,” Misty told NME regarding Adams’ tweets, a subject Misty himself brought up during a backstage interview at England’s End of the Road festival this weekend. “I really don’t. He used to text me a lot. I hope he’s okay.” Watch Misty’s full interview below—he also reveals his favorite conspiracy theory, which involves Taylor Swift, Church of Satan founder Anton LeVey, and JonBenét Ramsey.
