MARY GAUTHIER, MARC OLSON (Lola’s Room, 1332 W Burnside) When making music as a solo artist, a distinctive voice is key. Listening to anything from Mary Gauthier’s recent Between Daylight and Dark makes this immediately clear. There’s weariness aplenty, but it’s balanced by a deep-seated anger that never quite goes away. Or, to phrase things differently, hers is a voice that fits equally well beside a tautly played acoustic guitar or an expansive Van Dyke Parks arrangement. Her delivery of a line as archetypal as “Oh Lord, what have I done” (from “Snakebit”) is just about perfect: Its halting cadences sound fresh, and yet the words as they are sung fit perfectly within the context of the song around it. Gauthier’s music, which draws from country and folk without falling neatly into either category, stays both grounded and propulsive, and it’s hard to turn away. TOBIAS CARROLL

Much like Lucinda Williams, Gauthier has that smoky, Marlboro-damaged, voice that—when mixed with a gentle Southern accent—is pretty damn irresistible. Meanwhile, sharing the bill is former Jayhawks frontman Mark Olson. Take a trip in the way way back machine and enjoy his former band’s (surprising) hit, “Blue.”

MP3:
Mary Gauthier - Soft Place to Land