TICKETS: $18 ADVANCE; $25 DAY OF SHOW

With brill building wit and a Midwestern sense of melancholy, Josh Rouse has built a career that spans over 25 years, reaching back to his acclaimed 1998 debut Dressed Up Like Nebraska & continuing to his breakthrough albums 1972 & Nashville. His well-crafted and hook-laden tracks are coupled with closely-detailed, well-observed vignettes in his lyrics. Now passing 50, Josh faces the next phase of his life. “I remember seeing Tom Waits on the cover of a magazine with the headline TOM WAITS AT 50.” Josh recalls “ I was in my twenties and that seemed so far off… but he made a great record (Mule Variations) and I hope I have, too.”

As Rouse drifts into middle age, his worldview has expanded – family, travel… life, which adds even more depth to the songs. Paste Magazine has lauded Rouse, saying, “His knack for setting a simple feeling to a breezy melody shines through again and again,” and this is once again true with his latest album Going Places. So we see the laconic “She’s in L.A.,” the crisp and snappy “The Lonely Postman,” drenched in almost-Buddy Holly-esque melodies, and album closer “Stick Around” punctuated by its punching horn touches, a nod to his return to Tennessee and the city’s country-soul history.