Tunesmiths keep faith with their art

Between all the nights on stage and the private moments when they feel a new song on the way, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Guy Clark and Joe Ely must have reached for a guitar tens of thousands of times collectively over their lengthy careers -- and you know that it’s been sometimes more out of obligation than inspiration.

But there was such warmth among the four artists Monday at the lovely 2,000-seat Arlington Theatre that it was hard to imagine that every moment with a guitar wasn’t a joy. The two-hour acoustic concert was a heartfelt testimonial to the wonders of songwriting.

As inviting as the sometimes introspective, sometimes rowdy music from the writers who have teamed up for this tour is, you couldn’t help be just as touched by the way they reacted to each other’s material.

When, say, Lovett sang one of his bittersweet ballads, the others would smile admiringly at a humorous line, or close their eyes and nod knowingly at a more philosophical one.

Echoing the folksy billing on the theater marquee (“Lyle, John, Guy & Joe”), the stage setting had a down-home feeling as the musicians sat in chairs in living-room fashion, taking turns singing their songs accompanied only by their own guitars.

Kicking things off, Clark, who uses so much symbolism and rich character detail in his songs that he has more in common with short story writers than pop tunesmiths, introduced his first song by saying it was the simple story of someone jumping off a garage roof.

At the heart of 1994’s “The Cape,” however, Clark speaks about a sweet independence and idealism that runs through much of his work and that of his sidekicks.

Co-written by his wife, Susanna, and Jim Janosky, the song tells about a youngster’s antics to express an adult’s dreams:

He is one of those who knows that life

Is just a leap of faith

Spread your arms and hold your breath

Always trust your cape.

Afterward, he introduced fellow Texan Ely, whose energetic music combines country and rock so passionately that he’s been at home on tours with both Willie Nelson and the Clash.

Though not as graceful a writer as Clark, Ely can be wonderfully amusing and illuminating in the same song thanks to his bold, surreal touches. In his six tunes Monday, his lyrics went from describing an encounter with Billy the Kid to bizarre times in border towns, searching all the time for truths that always seem just a mile or so down the road.

Hiatt has a growly, bluesy voice that is as distinctive as his songs, which mix tenderness and bravado in ways that are both entertaining and moving. He opened with “Thing Called Love,” a 1989 hit for Bonnie Raitt.

Typical of his playful spirit, Hiatt paused midway through the song to point out that there was a verse “the little redhead” left off her version, but he said he couldn’t be upset because the royalties put his children through college.

In his other song choices, Hiatt demonstrated his wide range as a writer, going from the vigorous rocker “Memphis in the Meanwhile” to the vulnerable “Have a Little Faith.”

Of the four artists, Lovett may have benefited most from the informal setting. Because he has become so effective as a lively bandleader in recent years, it’s easy to forget just how gifted a writer he is, but in the solo role his songs, including “If I Had a Boat” and “My Baby Don’t Tolerate,” radiated with style.

Influenced greatly by Clark and another fellow Texan, the late Townes Van Zandt, Lovett writes songs that are frequently devilishly funny or disarmingly poignant. At times he weaves the elements together so deftly that it is hard to know quite where the humor ends and the hurt begins.

Yet the evening’s most generous and defining moment came near the end, when instead of another one of his songs Lovett sang “Step Inside This House,” a Clark song that he has long admired about preserving memories and traditions.

Best known for such compositions as “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train” and “L.A. Freeway,” Clark was just starting out as a songwriter when he wrote “Step Inside” three decades ago, but he was already so in love with songwriting that he included a line about reaching for a guitar that feels as relevant today as it was then.

This guitar was given me

By old man Thomas Gray

It’s not too much to look at

But I pick it every day

It’s been across the country

Four or five times I guess

Between me and old man Tom

It never got much rest.

In some ways, it was the perfect ending for the night, but the foursome returned to the stage for another round of tunes, finally ending with a sing-along dedicated to the man whose ramblin’ style surely influenced them all: Woody Guthrie.

Rather than sing the widely used version of “This Land Is Your Land,” they sang Guthrie’s original lyrics, which didn’t just celebrate the nation’s ideals but also harshly criticized its inequities.

Monday’s program was sponsored by UC Santa Barbara in association with Sings Like Hell, an organization whose own popular songwriter series is held 13 times a year at the smaller Lobero Theatre -- a series that has showcased Clark, Hiatt and Ely as well as Richard Thompson, Jesse Winchester, Dave Alvin and Ron Sexsmith.

The series, like Monday’s show, feels like a valuable oasis in the middle of a pop scene too often dominated by spectacle.

When Clark walked on Monday and looked at the intimate stage and then felt the obvious enthusiasm of the audience, he said simply, “This is pretty cool.”

Absolutely.

Robert Hilburn, pop music critic of The Times, can be reached at robert.hilburn@latimes.com.