WED 12/16: Songs & Laughs

There is other cheap music tonight (a couple are on the calendar), but I'm feeling mellow this morning. My picks are a couple (mainly) acoustic gigs and a comedy show.

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WED 12/16

9pm
Ian Adams, Eldridge Rodriguez, Tom Thumb, Greg Lyon
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
$7 / 21+

Did anyone see that Grant Hart (ex-Husker Du) was going to play at the Middle East tonight? Well, he postponed until next month. It was going to be a good show; I saw him do the acoustic thing on one of his previous visits to Cambridge.

Ian Adams was going to one of the support acts, so it looks like Adams and a bunch of other artists associated with Midriff Records are getting together for a night of solo acoustic music (except for Ian accompanied by his ex-Rock City Crimewave drumming buddy).

After a couple of listens, I'm starting to really get how great this solo work really is. I was already enjoying the chilled-out turn from louder, horrorbilly rock, but the lyrics are starting to seep in and the songs seem to make sense as a whole. Some songs mention creatures of the night, while other could still be written from their perspective.

There are no slouches tonight. Eldridge Rodriguez may be better known for his band The Beatings, but his solo stuff is really intriguing at a lower volume. Tom Thumb isn't really the guy's name, but call this clever folker "Tom" anyway just for the heck of it. Greg Lyon plays with Rodriguez in The Beatings and turns out to be a fine singer-songwriter on his own.

WED 12/16

9pm to 11pm
"A Holiday Cagematch"
at Castlebar, 575 Washington St, Brighton (Oak Sq)
$1 / FREE for ugly holiday clothing / 21+

"Holiday" and "cagematch" so rarely go together, but why not. Two teams stacked with folks from various local improv comedy groups will go head-to-head in a battle of wit.

Comedian Andrew Meyer will also do a set of material that hopefully won't be made up on the spot. I wish I could go tonight, because it looks pretty funny -- especially for paying one measly dollar!

You don't even need to pay a buck if you wear some "horrible holiday attire (Christmas sweater, menorah costume, etc).

The drinks are cheap, so do you really need any more reason to go hang out?

WED 12/16

10:30pm
"Holiday Folkfest"
Feat: Chick Granning, Tom Baker, Tad Overbaugh
at Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE

Maybe you'll see a Santa hat or something, but Chick Graning (of Scarce) usually does a monthly acoustic night with a couple of guests. I already love the Plough, but it's definitely a good spot to be when you have three solid singer-songwriters on one night.

Besides Chick who continues to make wonderful music, I think this is one of the few solo gigs for Tom Baker of the very-rockin' Dirty Truckers. This is probably how all the D.T. songs sound like at the beginning -- except he won't be standing in front of the mirror and will have his pants on... (Um, kidding! I think.)

I saw Tad Overbaugh with his old band The Kickbacks, and the songs were the best part. He really knows how to sing some thoughtful stories that falls somewhere between Steve Earle and Paul Westerberg. Tad seems susceptible to requests, so yell for "Tip My Girl" -- a great song with subtle lyrics.