(John Doe) and Jill Sobule at Shank

Let me start my discussion of the John Doe/ Jill Sobule show Monday night at Shank Hall by saying Jill Sobule is a talented, appealing, smart, compelling singer/ songwriter and guitarist. Her material is strong its own right, but I was there to see John Doe and unfortunately I got about 45 percent John and 55 percent Jill. Their harmonizing and interplay was entertaining and added a nice dimension to the show. They also did several songs from their new joint CD “A Day at the Pass.” The turning point may have been about half way into the show when they asked for requests. The small audience of about 55 blurted out none for John (I inexplicably went blank despite owning many X and John Doe albums) and about a half-dozen for Jill. It was almost like John and Jill took that as a cue to do more Jill tunes. The closing song of the encore was Sobule’s 1996 hit “I Kissed a Girl.” Fun show but I would’ve liked to get more John and less Jill. I did get to chat with him for a minute after wards and he said he will be releasing a new solo disc in late summer/ early fall.