There are days when I miss the land of actual mailing lists, of finding out about a band's appearance close to your town only by way of a fateful bright piece of cardstock-turned-band-mailer that would come in the post by surprise.

Today is not one of those days.

Thanks to Twitter, we're delighted to find out that our pal Tom Brosseau will be serving as special musical guest to Sara Watkins on this week's episode of A Prairie Home Companion. The show will be streaming live from 5-7p (CT) on Saturday, January 15th at the Prarie Home Companion's website, and will be rebroadcasting on NPR the following day {1/16} from 11a-1p (CT). That's twice the Tom for the same low price!

As a sidebar: if you missed the notation on my best of 2010 list, please take a moment to e-search all there is to find about Tom's current project with Angela Correa, called Les Shelleys. It's a slice of stripped-away post.Americana at it's finest, and if you've only got a moment to sample one piece of what they're all about, head on over to their Daytrotter session from this past fall and indulge your ears. It's the next best thing to hearing their sparse, haunting cover of the Supremes' "My World Is Empty Without You, Babe" which was only available for purchase on the All Shelleys Eve Summer 2010 Tour EP.

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I've had the fortune of crossing paths with Tom Brosseau many times in the five years since we first met, and it's always been nothing short of total perfection. An intimate show at an all-ages venue back east, a night at the Living Room in New York City, sharing the stage with Ethan Rose and Shelley Short at the Tractor -- the list goes on and on. Both coasts and many stellar performances later, we recently landed at the 18th floor of the Hilton Garden in at SXSW together, and I got to experience Tom's work in a whole new light.

He's out on a purposeful small-room tour this go-round, bringing magic to our ears as part of a duo with the incredibly talented Angela Correa.  Sweet, deconstructed original numbers carry their voices in a perfect blend of melody, with little more than Tom's acoustic meanderings and a foot tap here and there to keep the time. It's dramatic while remaining completely understated, powerful and intimate, and absolutely not-to-be-missed.

Check out their MySpace for a proper sampling of this modern take on some standard sounds, and then grab your ID and come down to Hattie's tonight. With all this and Shelley Short opening up the night, you won't be disappointed. Promise.

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at The Tractor Tavern

Shy Midwesterner, Tom Brosseau, claimed the stage dressed like a Sears fashion model with a white shirt, Dockers slacks and a bolo tie. He appears like a figure trapped in the 1950s and his music reflects this anachronism quite well. His newest record, Posthumous Success, is a rootsy collection of country folk. Live, he reconstructed this sound as his set consisted of old style acoustic songs and some electric ones where his tenor voice walked a tenuous line between being frail and commanding.

"My Favorite Color Blue," from the new album, was preempted with some amusing background information. Brosseau explained that the song is about a recurring dream that features Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Nirvana fame. From the lyrics of the song, it is difficult to decipher if this explanation was true or not. Maybe Brosseau was joking, but one got the feeling that his story was in earnest.

"Haven't I Been True" was one of the evening's highlights. Also from the new record, the innocence of the song was striking. Brosseau on stage seemed so vulnerable and altogether out of time, yet at the same time he recalls the timelessness of figures such as Johnny Cash with his demeanor and classic Sun Records style guitar picking.

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This new buoyant and well-crafted album is a huge stylistic shift away from the spare acoustic arrangements of his previous releases though Brosseau's earnest wit and captivating, vibrato-soaked voice is unchanged.

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at The Triple Door

For the whole duration of the set, we're woven into his world, mesmerized - somewhere between the buskers and the sidewalks, and grass blowing in the breeze with a sunflare in the lens.

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Think, "I grew up on a farm, but I listen to the Pixies." That's Tom Brosseau.

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Cavalier is a thoroughly intimate recording. It is lonely, stark, and stripped of the slightest amount of pretense.

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at Neumo's

Múm [pronounced Moo-om] is quite quickly and widely noted as an electronic outfit, but I think they're just plain from another world.

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The first AstroPOP! for 2007 featuring rock and roll astrological reviews of releases by the following bands: Tom Brosseau, The Trolleyvox, Ghost Stories, Indigo Girls, Dave Fischoff, Camera Obscura, Euros ChildS, Cranebuilders, Menomena, The Besnard Lakes, Chin Up Chin Up, and Bossa Nova.

Shows you should catch, shows we caught and want to tell you all about...

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