David Wilcox at The Belcourt

As the theory goes, people get more conservative and set in their ways as they age. Not that Asheville singer-songwriter David Wilcox was ever wild and woolly, per se. For two decades, his trademark has been low-key solo shows, a soothing, burnished voice, fluid fingerstyle guitar playing and a natural sense of spirituality. But now that he’s in the throes of middle age, he’s loosening up further still. Three albums back, Wilcox offered an idealistic ode to poetic religious pluralism. He recorded his last album in an airstream trailer, while living a carefree, nomadic life with his wife and son. (That one sounded remarkably relaxed for such close quarters.) Open Hand, his 14th album, takes laid-back tranquility to its ultimate conclusion: “If you wanna live this life / Gotta hold it with an open hand.” “Red Eye” even sounds like next-generation chilled-out folkie Jack Johnson. Wilcox, though, was Zen first.
Wed., July 8, 8 p.m., 2009