Although there are exceptions, most mainstream country music exists in a zone where economic pain is overcome by lifestyle choices that can seem fanciful. For the Nashville singer and songwriter Silas Lowe, living in a small town has its charms, but it’s no walk in the park. Lowe writes about surviving on the fringes of North American society on his 2025 album Mirror Behind the Bar. He ends a song called “Trickle Down” with this couplet: “I can’t wait another day / For help from those on top.” Meanwhile, “Brown Gravy Kitchen” describes the day-to-day slog of existing in a town where there’s no library, no interstate and nothing to do. Because Lowe sings in a mild voice that only occasionally reveals the desperation that fuels his songwriting, Mirror might seem conventionally well-turned in the time-honored Americana manner. Don’t be fooled — it’s tough stuff that speaks to the economic depredations of the Trump era. Thursday at Dee’s, Lowe will share the bill with Nashville guitarist and singer Cristina Vane, who collaborated with him on “Do You Want to Lose,” a tune from her 2025 album Hear My Call. Vane is a well-schooled blues guitarist who has a foot in the singer-songwriter tradition, and the blues licks don’t overpower the songs.
9 p.m. at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge
102 E. Palestine Ave., Madison
