Sat. May 8

 We saw English singer-songwriter-guitarist Findlay Brown along with maybe 50 other folks at T.T. the Bear’s Place earlier this year. On his just-released second album, “Love Will Find You,” Brown’s moving songs were enveloped by multiple vocal harmonies, orchestral arrangements and rock beats. On that disc, he’s the modern-day Roy Orbison, aided and abetted by ex-London Suede guitarist Bernard Butler.
     The 30-year-old Brown a recent transplant to Brooklyn, NY, played a 50-minute, solo-acoustic set. At T.T.’s, There, Brown came across as a modern-day Nick Drake – not a bad thing at all – while still evoking Orbison. That came through in the resplendent vocal range and in the melancholic tone of the songs.
    And, like the late great Roy, Brown sported a tall, black pompadour. He – like Orbison devotee Chris Isaak - is a wounded romantic. He sings songs for the lonely. He can be dejected, but not unsparingly desolate, scarred but not stranded. If he’s been battered, there’s still fight in him.
   “I hope you like love songs,” Brown said, almost disingenuously, beginning his set.
    Most of his songs were love songs. But many - like  “Separated by the Sea,”  “Teardrops Lost in the Rain,” “Everybody Needs Love” and “I Had a Dream” – were imbued with the realization that love, though it’s the drug of choice, still hurts.
    It was the first of three solo gigs Brown was doing in the US    Brown was introspective, but not navel-gazing. He spiked his songs with humorous bits, noting some might recognize “Come Home” from TV. (It was used by MasterCard as an ad in 2006.)
   And while Brown subtly fingerpicked and finessed many a melodic line, he also sang out loud and strong. “You have to be so strong/You have to carry on,” he sang in “Nobody Cared,” a song of realization. “Everything washes away in the rain.” It was a small shot of temporary redemption and cleansing.
   At the end, Brown left the stage and strode into the audience, singing Elvis Presley’s “Mystery Train.”  A little taste of kick-butt rockabilly spunk. A reminder that we will survive it all. (This is a version of a review that ran in the Boston Herald earlier in the year.)
  Brown returns to the area Saturday May 8 to play Johnny D’s. (We got this news from his publicist; the date isn’t even up on Johnny D’s website yet, so the cover. But we do know he’s sharing the bill with one of our favorite female country singers Shelby Lynne. A Grammy winner, for best new artist back in 2000, Lynne has got a lovely, melancholic new disc out, "Tears, Lies and Alibis. Don't be shocked if Peter Wolf shows up to join her at some point. She sang on Wolf's "Tragedy" on his new album and they're a mutual admiration society. Wolf's tour starts the next day. He's back in town May 25 at the Wilbur Theatre. (I'll have a profile on Lynne in the Boston Herald this week, at www.bostonherald.com.) Show is early, starting at 6:30. Tickets: $25.

17 Holland St., Somerville, 617-776-2004 www.johnnyds.com