Andrew Combs

Dallas native/Nashville resident Andrew Combs melds bits of country, folk, and pop-rock into a mellifluous brew cooked to perfection by production that allows it to simply flow, rather than try to shape it to suit a genre-specific section at the record store. Topped off by his burnished voice, pitched somewhere between intimate confession and quiet insistence, the songs insinuate themselves quickly into your consciousness, resting gently until called upon for comfort. Whether Combs is telling stories ("Dirty Rain," "Rose Colored Blues") or waxing political ("Bourgeois King," "Blood Hunters"), he makes every track feel like a visit from an old and dear friend. (Fri. 17, Cooper's BBQ, 12mid)