Stephen Lynch

Though singer-guitarist Stephen Lynch admits his latest album, last year’s Lion, is much subtler than his previous albums, he still looks to the rock spoof flick Spinal Tap for inspiration. “That was the beginning,” he says as he reflects on his own career as a guy who writes comical songs. “They knocked it out of the park. They wrote kick ass rock ’n’ roll music. I loved the fact that their songs are character driven. It’s the funniest movie ever made and that sparked the idea that I could do something similar. It wasn’t until many years later that I did anything about it.” Lynch put out his first record just over a decade ago and hasn’t looked back. While Lion starts off with a gentle ballad, it soon becomes much more outlandish as Lynch recounts the time he took a hit of acid and went to the shopping mall in “So This is Outer Space?” Lynch isn’t currently on tour — he’s just coming to town tonight for a one-off so expect to hear some new tunes since he’s been writing tracks for his next album. (Jeff Niesel)