Lyle Lovett is one of the all-time great American singer/songwriters. His voice is unique, but his antecedents are recognizable. In his work two roads come together—the trail blazed by the great Texas storytellers of whom Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark are the best known, and the crooked highway navigated by sophisticated wise-asses such as Randy Newman and Tom Waits. Lovett's first gift was to combine these two potent strands of musical DNA into a new genome able to generate songs as brilliant and double-sided as "If I Had A Boat," "God Will," "If I Were the Man You Wanted," "Family Reserve" and "Her First Mistake." That would be plenty for any composer to base a career on, but Lovett was also capable of both flat-out humor ("That's Right (You're Not From Texas"), "Here I Am," "Church") and heartbreakers that were poignant without ever descending into sentimentality ("She's Already Made Up Her Mind," "Nobody Knows Me," "The Road To Ensenada"). What emerged was a picture of a smart and complicated man, whose good humor and generosity of spirit were holding back a darker character. Out of such tensions, many artists are born.
Lovett also has a gift for big band arrangements that has no precedent among contemporary singer/songwriters, made all the more potent because of its somewhat surprising use. He also displays a literary talent that has made him part of the tradition of American ironists. This is probably the aspect of Lovett that interested director Robert Altman, who cast him in four films and had him score a fifth ("Dr. T and the Women").
Lovett's latest album, It's Not Big It's Large, was called "one of the best recordings by any American musical artist in the last ten years" by Popmatters.com. "Like the really great American musicians such as Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong, Lyle Lovett deftly moves his music across boundaries without losing his own identity and message. His voice has that same American beauty too: a rough elegance that hides its handsome confidence behind a charming, inimitable crookedness."
Tickets are $42 in advance, $47 day of show. They are available in Albuquerque (cash only plus $2 surcharge) at:
4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 344-8139 Natural Sound, 3422 Central Ave. SE, 255-8295
Tickets are also available through the Lensic Box Office (505-988-1234) and TicketsSantaFe.org.
![[ ]](images/space.gif){kind=small}
4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 344-8139