Pop Music Reviews : Enigmatic Songs, Odd Voice From Normal Guy

Folk singer Bill Morrissey looked resolutely normal when he took the stage at McCabe’s on Friday. That was appropriate, since the New Hampshire native’s wistful, enigmatic songs form impressionistic portraits of working-class anti-heroes.

There’s nothing usual about Morrissey’s voice, though. Sounding like Walter Brennan impersonating Leon Redbone, Morrissey’s cracked gargle initially seemed strangely affected. But over the course of his easygoing set, that voice became as comfortably familiar as an old pair of slippers.

Befitting a resident of the Granite State, Morrissey has a bedrock wit as dry as slate, and he alternated his haunting evocations of missed opportunities (“Handsome Molly”) with parodies of folk-song cliches. In a way though, Morrissey’s living-room pleasantries diminished his effectiveness. One wishes that he were a true eccentric, like Tom Waits or that other Morrissey--that his persona were as unique as those vocals, as mysterious as his best songs.