Critic's Pick: Margaret Glaspy w/Anna Tivel

Margaret Glaspy has always been an honest writer, her past work an overflowing garden of self-realization. Her confessions are detailed and sincere, and her discography is full of complex storytelling that digs a dull kitchen knife deep beneath the skin of her listeners. She knows how to make things hurt in a way that feels meaningful. Her latest record, I Am Both, is distinct and modern, featuring naturally told stories folded into elegantly produced instrumentation. Her lyrics take the lead on this record, the music forming a scaffolding of support around her stories. From sensual dreams of metaphorical roses to the Excelsior plates of a past New York lover, Glaspy’s words paint images that cling to listeners like the pain of a newly lost love. Opening the show Sunday will be Portland-based songsmith Anna Tivel, a lyrical genius who is fascinatingly soft in her descriptions of the human condition. Her poetry dares to rip into the deepest, ugliest parts of humanity, making even an addict stripping copper to feed a violent addiction (as detailed in her song “Saint of Scrap Metal”) sound like the most beautiful thing you’d ever heard. Both Glaspy and Tivel are brilliant writers, and their show at The Blue Room will be powerful, emotional and true. I recommend bringing tissues. 

7 p.m. at The Blue Room at Third Man Records

623 Seventh Ave. S.