SLCene Suggests: Joe Ely at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre

JOE ELY, EGYPTIAN THEATRE, Park City, Wednesday, March 6, 8 p.m., $29-$44

I don’t know how Park City’s Egyptian Theatre managed to land this show, but this, my friends, is what you call a booking coup. Joe Ely might not be a household name unless you hail from the Lone Star State, but in Americana music circles, the man is royalty. Whether working alongside Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock in The Flatlanders, or doing the solo thing in a career that stretches back to the ’70s, Ely’s skills as a songwriter are hard to beat. His ability to capture a distinct place full of vivid characters with each three-minute salvo made me a fan years ago, and I do my best to never miss the man who has shared stages with everyone from The Clash and Bruce Springsteen to, more recently, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt. Expect a stripped-down affair when he stops in Park City. Joe Pug opens the show, making this one killer double-bill.