GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS, THE DEPOT, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 8 p.m., $40.50
Last summer I joined a couple thousand hearty souls in withstanding a serious downpour that delayed the start of George Thorogood’s show at Red Butte Garden. For me, the decision was driven by the fact I had never seen the man and his long-time band The Destroyers, and they were a major player in the soundtrack of my youth. I never considered Thorogood as seriously as other childhood musical loves like Michael Jackson or R.E.M., but when I needed some loud, energetic tunes to plug in my ears while mowing the lawn, songs like “Bad to the Bone,” “I Drink Alone” and “One Bourbon, One Shot, and One Beer.” Little did I know that those same songs were making generations of pub-rock lovers go crazy. Thorogood’s fans remain pretty hardcore, and the man’s guitar-playing is legitimately worth the price of admission. If straightforward rock ‘n’ roll is something you haven’t seen or heard in a while, this show might be right up your alley. Trampled Under Foot opens.
JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, THE STATE ROOM, Sunday, Sept. 28, 8 p.m. $40
The last time we heard from Justin Townes Earle in Salt Lake City, he was a newlywed (to a Utah gal, no less) on the State Room stage last year Christmastime, kvetching in his typical way between songs about dealing with record label pinheads and other travails. And while the banter is always entertaining, if sometimes uncomfortable, it has nothing on the songs Earle delivers. His is a distinct lyrical voice, and his songwriting–always strong–has evolved nicely over the course of his albums. That holds true on his brand new Single Mothers release, a strong addition to an incredibly solid catalog. Now five albums into what will hopefully be a long career, the 32-year-old has never sounded better, even as he remains rooted in the old-school country sound that’s always been his stock in trade. It should be exciting to hear him deliver a slew of new songs in his set this time around. American Aquarium opens the show.
I wrote a review of the Dave Rawlings Machine show Sept. 23 at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane, Washington. You can read the review at The Inlander.
IL SOGNO DEL MARINAIO, THE URBAN LOUNGE, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 9 p.m., $12
As an unabashed Mike Watt fanatic, I’ll readily admit that if the other two guys in Il Sogno Del Marinaio were touring through town with an unknown-to-me bass player, I probably wouldn’t have paid them much attention. No doubt that’s the same across the country as Watt’s latest project barrels around, playing 53 shows in 53 days. Watt met guitarist Stefano Pilia and drummer Andrea Belfi a few years back when he took his Second Men band to Italy on tour. The Italian tour promoter hooked Watt up with Stefano to help navigate the country, and they hit it off so well they started jamming, composing enough songs to knock out an album, La Busta Gialla, and do six quick tour dates. They took their time writing and recording a follow-up, the brand new Canto Secondo, and the sound will be familiar to fans of Watt’s jagged, jazzy way leading a band with his bass-playing. As Watt puts it, “I think Andrea and Stefano bring things out in me that maybe would be lost otherwise–not just old stuff but things in the moment, too.” Kiing Tiger opens.
MACY GRAY, THE DEPOT, Monday, Sept. 22, 8 p.m., $30
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Macy Gray, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the soulful songstress when she pops into town on Monday. During her meteoric rise–largely on the strength of still-killer 1999 hit “I Try”–and in the years after when she tried to recapture the magic of her debut album, On How Life Is, Gray always knew how to throw down a seriously funky good time on stage. Her distinct rasp remains one of the more unique voices in modern music, and her sensibility leans more toward the brash experimentation of P-Funk and retro-soul of James Brown than the smooth R&B of many recent divas. Most recently, Gray released a covers album in 2012, and a new album this year called The Way. We Are the Strike open the show.
ORENDA FINK, KILBY COURT, Friday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., $8
Songstress Orenda Fink has always had a knack for exploring some of the darker corners of the human mind and ethereal realms of spirituality in her music, even when crafting highly listenable pop-rock full of atmospheric flourishes and plenty of hooks. Such was the case during her years as half of Azure Ray, and continuing into her solo career. Her latest release, Blue Dream, takes a look at death from all possible angles, the result of a year-long meditation on the subject inspired by the death of her own 16-year-old dog. Life, death, the afterlife, the tricky line between the conscious and subconscious, all of her musing proved productive when it came time to record her new songs, which sound a bit like Kate Bush at times. That is not a bad thing at all. Modern Kin, Big Wild Things and Henry Wade are also on the bill for her Salt Lake City show.
Daniel Nailen 