The Cardinals are an American rock band that were formed in 2004 by alternative country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams and fronted by him (until 2009 and again from 2023 onwards).

The band was featured on Ryan Adams and the Cardinals albums, Cold Roses, Jacksonville City Nights, Follow the Lights, Cardinology and III/IV.

J.P. Bowersock and Ryan Adams rehearsed and performed in New York at various clubs under the name The Cardinals and were eventually joined for a short time by G.E.

Jon Graboff was a hired replacement for the next two years until he became a full-time member for their final album as Ryan Adams and The Cardinals.

The band toured worldwide without Cashdollar to promote Cold Roses, and during this period returned to the studio to record their second album, Jacksonville City Nights.

[3] In January 2009, Adams announced that he would leave The Cardinals in order to "step back" from making music, citing hearing loss due to Ménière's disease as part of the reason for his decision.

I encouraged Ryan to go and get married, and have a life and find some peace; the guy hasn’t really slowed down in ten years, and he needed it as much as we did.

In February 2010, Neal Casal published a book of tour photography titled Ryan Adams & the Cardinals: A View of Other Windows.