Nick Lowe

During the ’70s, when he went from being a mainstay in England’s rough-and-tumble pub-rock scene to a notable part of the new-wave movement, Nick Lowe was known as “Basher.” These days, of course, bashing isn’t at the top of his agenda. At My Age, his most recent platter, is a musically serene offering whose country and rockabilly influences emerge with ease, not effort. Even so, the man who once jokingly dubbed himself the Jesus of Cool and warbled songs such as “Marie Provost,” about a dead woman eaten by her dachshund, retains his cruel-to-be-kind sense of humor. For proof, lend an ear to “I Trained Her to Love Me,” which features the winning lines “If you think that it’s depraved, and I should be ashamed/So what?” Such witticisms demonstrate that Lowe hasn’t lost the ability to amuse despite the passage of time and the gray in his mane. As such, his concert, co-starring Ron Sexsmith, promises to be quite the bash.
Tue., April 15, 8 p.m., 2008