Concert Shows Texas Lives Deep in the Heart of Lovett

Lyle Lovett has followed many influences over his 12-year recording career, becoming one of pop’s more unpredictable artists by steeping various albums in country, blues, jazz and gospel. On Monday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, he offered a glimpse at his deepest roots, performing music by the Texas songwriters who have inspired him, while revealing a bit of his own soul.

The nearly two-hour concert focused on “Step Inside This House,” his new two-CD collection featuring songs by such Lone Star legends as the late Townes Van Zandt, as well as Guy Clark, Walter Hyatt and others.

Lovett’s penchant for blending wit and poignancy drove the selections, which evoked the vastness of the state while limning the intimate details that make memorable stories. These strands were entwined most profoundly in Steven Fromholz’s heartbreaking “Texas Trilogy,” a song cycle in which small-town life is drawn in exacting detail, and the listener begins to understand that this vivid world is actually fading away.

Such tunes demanded careful listening, which Lovett and his eight-piece band accommodated with precise vocal delivery and subtle instrumentation. Much of the show had a laid-back, folk/country feel, but Lovett mixed in bluegrass, jazz and blues, particularly during a brief segment featuring his own songs. His compositions held up against his mentors’, but the performance’s power came from his connection to those writers (and by extension his home state) rather than from his comparison to them.

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* Lyle Lovett plays tonight and Thursday at the Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., 8 p.m. $35-$50. (323) 380-5005.