GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV
FRIDAY 7/25. The Momentary, Bentonville. 8 p.m. $57.90-$165.
The intersection of uber-sincere indie folk and commercial success is a tricky place to be. As someone who shudders at the thought of listening to Mumford & Sons but absolutely adores Fleet Foxes, I get it. Listeners with strong convictions about the fine line between what’s earnest and what’s saccharine — or what’s fresh and what’s derivative, for that matter — can be hard to please. Colorado by way of South Africa singer-songwriter
Gregory Alan Isakov
manages to nimbly circumvent these questions, miraculously appealing to both purists and mainstream audiences with his accessible but thoughtful tunes. When Paste Magazine reviewed his latest album, 2023’s “Appaloosa Bones,” the writer summed up this phenomenon well, calling Isakov’s music “almost entirely free of cynicism, instead embracing the sort of romantic, humanist mindset that feels so far removed from 21st-century reality.” Get tickets at
themomentary.org
. Sidenote: Isakov’s performance at The Momentary comes just days before a
sold-out Alabama Shakes show
on July 22, so consider the resale market if contemporary roots rock is your jam.
DG
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