Neko Case and Jenny Lewis might be the poster gals for the insurgent country movement, but Jesse Sykes works the kind of musical magic that should get her mentioned more often in the same breath as that aforementioned duo. Along with her collaborators, the Sweet Hereafter, Sykes has quietly put together a low-key yet powerful body of work. Their third album Like, Love, Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul may be a mouthful, but between Sykes’ world-weary rasp of a croon and the way they present country and folk with intriguing textures and emotion makes what they do right in line with what Gram Parsons used to call Cosmic American Music. Tuesday, July 24 at the Cafe du Nord in SF. 9 p.m., $12. CafeduNord.com
High Lonesome Queen
Jesse Sykes at the Cafe du Nord.
