MIKE DOUGHTY W/ THE TONY SCHERR TRIO @ CITY WINERY.

Mike Doughty first came to public attention as the leader of Soul Coughing, a combo that made spastic, weird, sample-heavy rock you could dance to. Doughty’s lyrics were free-ranging; sometimes they were heart-breaking, other times they served only as a means of having fun with sound. They were one of the 90’s great alternative hopes but they got crowded out by the Creeds of the world and broke up in 2000.

To say that Doughty is back would be misleading because he never really left. Indeed, at this point his solo output is larger than that of his old band. He’s making music more organically now—more acoustic guitar, less samples—but with titles like Thank You, Lord, For Sending Me The F Train and 27 Jennifers he clearly hasn’t lost his sense of playfulness. He’ll be joined at new venue City Winery by Tony Scherr, a guitarist who has worked with everyone from Willie Nelson to John Lurie to Norah Jones but is now doing his own thing. You should go.