Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Tues 8pm €54.80/€49.20/€44.20, 0818-719300

He's a curious bird, is Lyle Lovett, the former husband of Julia Roberts (didn't see that one coming), an occasional actor (check out The Opposite of Sex), with a look that wouldn't seem out of place in Twin Peaks.

Born and raised in the small Texas town of Klein (which a distant blood relative founded back in the day), Lovett spurned a career in business for the bright lights of Nashville, where he landed in the early 1980s. While he fits in with many other Texan country songwriters (from Willie Nelson to Nanci Griffith), Lovett is very much his own person, and because of this has always been destined to enjoy a cult following rather than mainstream commercial success. Yet he’s a wholly engaging performer, always worthy of attention, and as he rarely makes it over to this neck of the woods it would surely be remiss of us not to pay our respects.

Can't see that? Catch This

Animal CollectiveFriday, Dublin; Saturday, Belfast