Among the country artists whose music has been labeled 'new traditionalist,' Lyle Lovett is surely the least bound to country-music traditions. The Texan singer and songwriter, who performed at the Beacon Theater on March 18, fuzzes the ordinarily sharp distinctions between country and more urbane pop-rock styles of performance. Onstage, he wears his bushy hair in a tangled post-punk cockscomb and addresses the audience in a tone of deadpan irony.
Although many of his songs deal with loving and losing in an earthy country vernacular, a streak of perverse sexual humor runs through lyrics that tend to portray women as voracious wild animals. And Mr. Lovett's mild-mannered folkish crooning, which shows almost no traces of a Southern rural twang, stands in sharp contrast to his lustier upbeat songs that have strong roots in Texan swing and the blues.
At the March 18 concert, Mr. Lovett performed with an ensemble that included, in addition to an excellent rhythm section, three horn players; a cellist, John Hagen from Austin, Tex., and Francine Reed, a spectacular blues singer from Phoenix who has become a vital staple in his musical entourage. The range of the instrumentation handsomely showcased the stylistic contradictions of Mr. Lovett's music. Embellished with Mr. Hagen's beautiful long-lined cello playing, ballads like 'Closing Time' and 'If I Had a Boat' acquired an extra edge of poignancy. The horn section also gave a brawling, guttural intensity to songs like 'Cryin' Shame,' from Mr. Lovett's bluesy new album. From: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/26/arts/review-country-lyle-lovett-s-song-styles.html
