Ryan Adams quits The Cardinals

Ryan Adams has announced he is leaving The Cardinals, the band he formed and has fronted since 2004.

Writing in a lengthy blog on Cardinology.com, Adams said that he will quit the band at the end of their current tour, which ends in Atlanta on March 20.

"Atlanta will be my last venture with the band," he wrote. "I am grateful for the time we have had and maybe someday we will have more stories to tell together. I am, however, ready for quieter times."

Adams hinted that he would be taking a step back from music altogether, saying that he has "a whole lot of living and learning to do" instead.

"Maybe we will play again sometime and maybe I will work my way back into some kind of music situation but this is the time for me to step back now," he wrote.

In their early days, The Cardinals also featured JP Bowerstock - the so-called 'guru' who taught The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jnr to play the guitar.

The Cardinals officially released three albums together, although they also often played on Ryan Adams solo material, as well as 'Songbird', the 2006 album by by Willie Nelson, for which Adams was producer.

The band were handpicked by Noel Gallagher to support Oasis on their recent North American tour.

Writing on his blog, Adams dismissed the touring lifestyle as "soul destroying".

He wrote: "This is not much of a life; not glamorous like those ridiculous videos a long time ago television played. And no, it is not monetarily as rewarding as people would like you to believe. And yes, it is soul destroying. Especially when you spend your life trying to write about the really difficult stuff and you stand there losing your way and people yell at you like you were in a circus. When it was your dream to matter and you realise one day, it never mattered - I mean, I am a punchline and a footnote."

Adams is now set to release a book, called 'Infinity Blues', on April 1.

He has called the publication "the jewel of my life's work".