21

monday

After listening to just a few seconds of Tim O’Reagan’s self-titled solo CD, you know exactly where you are: under the trees on a riverbank on a late-summer afternoon. That dip you took in the hazy water leeched the last bit of energy out of you, and you and your old man, or your old lady, or both, are sprawled on a Mexican blanket that smells a little like dog. You’re inhaling Mother Nature and exhaling praise to Jesus, and you don’t mind the red ants or who’s president because the guitars, accordion, and banjo just lift it all away. (Don’t stop to wonder how they got a piano out here; why spoil it?) And even though you won’t remember a single song 24 hours from now, threads of steel guitar and lazy whistling will remain in your reptile brain longer than your last Boone’s Farm Tickle Pink hangover. O’Reagan performs with Greg Laswell at 8:30 p.m. at Iota Club and Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. $12. (703) 522-8340. (Pamela Murray Winters)