Tom Lynch

A trip through the dark and stark—Americana’s favorite baritone poet Bill Callahan finally makes his way through town in support of April’s "Woke on a Whaleheart" (Drag City) release, his follow-up to the gentler and folksy "A River’s Too Much to Love." "Whaleheart" boasts more instrumentation than Callahan usually involves himself with—piano, strings and even backing gospel vocals (it’s a bit off-putting, but pleasant nonetheless)—and even lyrically he’s a bit more adventurous ("The city was a fist," he sings on opening track "From the Rivers to the Oceans," "I lived on its wrist/And I took myself a good long look around"). Some could even call this upbeat. "The human voice is the best instrument, so why not use more than one on a record was my thinking," Callahan told me last spring when the record came out, and he obeys this thought even with his own voice as it reaches beyond its normal heaviness and stretches into lighter air. While "Knock Knock" is still, in my opinion, Callahan’s best, there’s always an intriguing anticipation for his next work.

Bill Callahan plays September 14-15 at the Lakeshore Theater, 3157 North Broadway, (773)472-3492, at 9pm. $12-$14.

(2007-09-11)

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