Marshall Crenshaw:
Mr. Crenshaw stepped on stage so inauspiciously at first, he barely stole the limelight from the two large decorative plants on stage. He seemed nervous at first, and perhaps that’s why he wasted little time reminding people why he’s a cult favorite. Mumbling only “My most famous riff…” he launched into his best-known song, “Someday, Someway.” As anyone who has fallen under Crenshaw’s spell can tell you, he can do no wrong in the songwriting department. Each time he unearthed another gem from his 23-year back catalog, I thought, “I am finally getting to hear the guy who wrote "Whenever You’re on my Mind / Mary Anne / You’re My Favorite Waste of Time…’” For a man known mainly as a singer-songwriter, Crenshaw sure knew his way around an electric guitar, bringing hints of Chet Atkins and, um, Roger McGuinn to his songs. And, as cannot be said of all artists, his new material stood up next to the classic stuff. He blamed his own laziness as the reason last year’s What’s in the Bag? wasn’t available in the lobby. Too bad—he would have sold a few.
