Sufjan Stevens

Thursday, September 22
Mississippi Nights
Doors at 7 PM, Show at 8
Tickets: $14

Sufjan Stevens is what you might call a “college degree” rocker. Not only did the gentle-voiced Michigan native receive a degree in creative writing from the New School in New York, but he fills his songs with sly historical references and brilliant turns of phrase in the manner of a grade-A essay. That doesn’t mean he lacks emotion, however; his best songs are likely to move the listener to tears. It’s this special blend of intelligence and songcraft that young Sufjan (pronounced “Soof-yahn”) is bringing to Mississippi Nights this Thursday, September 22.

Stevens is currently touring in support of his new album “Illinois,” out on Asthmatic Kitty Records. For those who don’t know, the record is part two of a presumably fifty-part endeavor in which Stevens plans to devote an album to each of the fifty United States. Judging from the excellence of the first two, “Illinois” and the earlier “Greetings from Michigan,” we could use forty-eight more. “Illinois” effortlessly combines sparse piano ballads, exuberant bells-and-whistles celebrations, and banjo-plucked love songs. Particularly outstanding is “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.,” an ode to the serial killer that is neither condoning nor entirely condemning. When Stevens sings of his victims, “Even more, they were boys / With their cars, summer jobs, Oh my God,” it’s hard not to get goosebumps. There are also Illinois references galore, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Carl Sandberg, the Sears Tower, and the lyric “Stephen A. Douglas was a great debater, but Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator.” The guy’s apparently done his research.

In addition to so much intellectual name-dropping, Stevens isn’t afraid to explore another, decidedly non-rock ‘n’ roll, aspect of his life: his Christian faith. His 2004 acoustic album “Seven Swans” addressed the issue directly, but religious references pop up all over “Illinois” as well. However, Stevens has said in interviews that it’s simply the background he brings to the table and he can’t be held responsible for all of Christianity. And that’s a reasonable request: we often enjoy musicians despite their political or social views, so why should religious views be any different? Stevens isn’t here to proselytize; he’s not exactly Creed or P.O.D. He is one of the best young artists in the country, with a style completely his own. His show at Mississippi Nights on Thursday will be part history lesson, part school pageant, part religious testimony, and wholly excellent.

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