September 4-10, 2003

musicpicks

Marshall Crenshaw

Rock/pop

Say what you will about Marshall Crenshaw -- that the hype accompanying his 1982 CD was just that, or that the poor guy was cheated out of what should have been a hugely successful commercial career -- you can't deny his staying power. More than 20 years after his Buddy Holly-meets-Elvis Costello debut, Crenshaw's still steadily soaring just under the radar of stardom and cranking out consistently solid albums that showcase his unfailing songcraft and underrated guitar playing. His latest, What's In The Bag (Razor & Tie), continues Crenshaw's quest to create songs of "spontaneous, unfiltered self-expression," as he puts it. Each track on the new record, "was built like a brick shithouse, because I still want to feel something from each of them five or 10 years down the road when or if I sing them." Despite his white-bread, quasi-nerd appearance, the 49-year-old Crenshaw proves himself an R&B lovin' groovemeister, mixing his own guitar-driven pop-rock numbers with a couple of jazzy instrumentals, and surprisingly sensual covers of Bootsy Collins' "I'd Rather Be With You" and Prince's Purple Rain-era "Take Me With U."

Fri., Sept. 5, 7 and 10 p.m., $20, The Point, 880 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-527-0988.

—Nicole Pensiero

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