An open fire

R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe discovered Vic Chesnutt at a club in Athens, Ga., in the early ’90s. A couple decades and 12 albums later, Chesnutt’s twang and grim folk tunes have earned a loyal fan base, and with good reason: His releases, like last year’s North Star Deserter, speak to audiences with their solemn confessions of a vice and misgivings set to brooding folk arrangements. We all have dark sides, so we can relate. But for me, Chesnutt’s style evokes a bleak Americana that should be endemic to Sacramento—except, of course, that Chesnutt is unlike any music you’d hear here in town. Catch him at the Blue Lamp with Elf Power on Wednesday, November 12, at 8 p.m. for $12.