The Trump era has been good for protest music, and here’s a show by a young Kenyan singer-songwriter who moved to North America and found it wanting. Raised in Nairobi, J.S. Ondara relocated to Minnesota in 2013 and began writing about his experiences in a Bob Dylan-meets-Ray LaMontagne style. His new album Tales of America sounds a little unformed at times, but he’s a good folksinger and an interesting guitarist. In the record’s “Television Girls,” he sings, “As the wind blows through her thighs, she’s like / One of them girls from the TV screen.” Elsewhere, Ondara wonders whether American democracy is dead in “Revolution Blues,” and he misses home in “Mother Christmas,” a gorgeous song in a tricky 6/8 rhythm. There are traces of light funk and soul throughout Tales of America — sometimes Ondara reminds me of ’70s pop-soul singer Labi Siffre, who engaged in some mild protest music himself. New Jersey-born singer-songwriter Adam Melchor will open. 7 p.m. at The Basement, 1604 Eighth Ave. S. EDD HURT
J.S. Ondara w/Adam Melchor
