Tom House

A poet who has been a published writer since his teens (he edited and published the journal raw bone in the 1980s), House's 1997 debut The Neighborhood Is Changing is an interesting, refreshing blend of traditional country, folk and quirky modern singer/songwriting. Members of the weird Nashville country-avant-rock band Lambchop help out with the production and music, but House is far less satirical than Lambchop, though hardly normal. He sings in a wracked, twangy voice that verges on, but never crosses the line to, neurosis; his songs keep an unremittingly unpredictable sens...