Crowell shows Arkansas soul

Rodney Crowell’s father was born in Blytheville, and Rodney himself for a time had Johnny Cash for a father-in-law. So you could justify saying that Crowell has enough Arkansas soul in him to rank up there with Cash and Levon Helm and Glen Campbell, when it comes to writing great songs, not to mention singing and performing them.

He proved it, and then some, for more than two hours Thursday night before a more-than-packed South on Main club. And he did it mostly solo, on his favorite acoustic guitar, a 1932 Gibson, except for inviting an old friend, whom he identified only as Joanne, for several songs midshow.

Most intriguingly, the show could have been called an intimate evening with Rodney Crowell.

Announcing at the start that he hoped to have a conversation with his audience, he did just that by engaging folks in back-and-forth remarks that sometimes involved requests, and other times veered off into stories and recollections. What more could anyone have expected in a club connected to the Oxford American magazine, itself a bastion of literate storytelling?

Crowell seemed to be having a great old time, especially when he and Joanne tore into The Staples Singers’ 1971 hit, “Respect Yourself,” which had the crowd hooting and hollering.

Appropriately enough, he then gave the audience a song most probably knew and hoped to hear: “Til I Gain Control Again,” which led into a fine story about drinking with the bookstore-owning mayor of Oxford, Miss., and going off to peer into the late William Faulkner’s estate, as the night of course ended with the mayor talking the police out of arresting both of them.

There were stories about Jerry Jeff Walker stealing Banjo, Crowell’s dog, and Guy Clark presiding over many a musical scenario.

Crowell even gave folks a taste of new music, mentioning that he and Emmylou Harris are at work on their second duo album, with an expected release date of April or May. So his muse continues to supply him with more than adequate inspiration.