Thursday To-Do: Kevin Gordon / Jim Mize
KEVIN GORDON / JIM MIZE9 p.m., White Water Tavern. $5.
Fans of literate, down-home, blues-infused, country-tinged swamp rock, take note. Two of the best will play White Water Tavern tonight. Raised in Shreveport and schooled at the prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop, Kevin Gordon has soldiered away in Nashville for the last 10 years, building a cult following with a ragged voice, bluesy guitar and deep, dark story songs. Gordon has teamed with Lucinda Williams for a song, and has had his material covered by greats as far flung as Sonny Burgess (of Newport) and Irma Thomas. A long-tenured insurance adjustor by day, Conway's Jim Mize is perhaps the state's best lyricist. He writes with a plainspoken brilliance that recalls blue-collar Southern authors like Larry Brown and Harry Crews, and sings with an appealingly deep, gravelly wail. His back-up band, featuring Charles Wyrick on guitar, Jason Weinheimer on bass and Dave Hoffpauir on drums, helps make the material even more searing and haunting. Jimmy Davis, a Memphis folk-rock star, comes to town behind his latest album, “Campfire Songs.”
Download: Kevin Gordon's "Watching the Sun Go Down"
