Although he’s made his name as an exponent of a style of country music that often skews to Americana, Rodney Crowell is a contemporary of Nick Lowe and Alex Chilton, who gained fame in the New Wave era as rockers with a feel for country. Crowell’s 1978 debut album Ain’t Living Long Like This continued in the vein of Gram Parsons, and Gary Stewart’s 1977 version of the record’s “I Ain’t Living Long Like This” is definitive. His production of Rosanne Cash’s pioneering 1980s albums was tougher and more modernistic than the Nashville norm, and he wrote great songs. In particular, his 1985 hit co-write with Cash, “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me,” is a landmark of ’80s pop that stands tall with Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” released the same year. The last time I caught Crowell live, in December 2023, he was as commanding as ever, with a vast songbook to choose from. His 2025 Airline Highway hints at Texas-Louisiana swamp pop, and the blithe “Louisiana Sunshine Feeling Okay” puts me in mind of the Sir Douglas Quintet’s 1968 “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day.” His latest release is Then Again, which is finally seeing the light of day after he cut it 20 years ago.
8 p.m. at 3rd and Lindsley
818 Third Ave. S.
