At a recent show here, Jon Dee Graham, still stinging from what he described as a "soul boiling" gig in Lawrence, entertained his followers (and himself, it seemed) with the kind of big, sweet rock and roll nobody plays anymore. Graham wears his past lives as a former True Believers member and touring guitarist (John Doe, Kelly Willis) comfortably, but his latest moods suit him absolutely perfectly. He's a man who can crank out heart-pounding rock songs about simply being willing to get up in the morning and breathe. Former "young guitar slinger" Ian Moore, veteran of many Grand Emporium Fridays, will open. Since the early-'90s, Moore has focused on his songwriting, letting his guitar do its thing while running big chunks of Texas through psychedelic loop-de-loops. Graham and Moore show how rock is supposed to age -- gracefully, even when it gets a bit thick around the middle.
