Richard Buckner

With lyrics that read like e.e. cummings poems and a husky voice that cracks on key, Richard Buckner has been a model of consistency during his nearly 20-year career. Relying largely on alternate guitar tunings and his singular vocal delivery, Buckner's music is simultaneously haunting and comforting, like a big bear hug from a crazy ex-boyfriend. As he prepares for a 2010 release, Buckner is clearing the vaults with digital rereleases via Merge Records of Bloomed (1994), The Hill (2000) and Impasse (2002). Considering that most of Buckner's fans are already die-hards, it's unlikely that a second push of his sparse musical interpretations of 100-year-old Edgar Lee Masters poems (The Hill) will break the Top 40. But he'll probably write another record on the way to this show, so clear your calendar regardless.