Jackson Browne

Is it a compliment or an insult to say that it's so easy to take Jackson Browne for granted? His mellow, introspective songs fit somewhere between Joni Mitchell and the Eagles — making him easy to ignore but rewarding to revisit. Browne's "These Days" became something of a modern-day torch song in the hands of Nico and many others, and throughout the '70s and '80s he carved out his space as a California folk-rocker with a heart of gold with hits like "Somebody's Baby" and "Tender is the Night." His latest disc, Time the Conqueror, is his first album of new material in six years, and on it Browne address both personal crises and topical issues with grace, conviction and his inherent gift of melody. Onstage, Browne blends his many roles — popsmith, storyteller and political activist — to become one magnanimous, wise performer.