WE ARE MANY AND THEY ARE FEW

So you hope that one person can solve everything.

A pair of highly complementary singer-songwriters came to Vaudeville Mews on Saturday night. Damien Jurado, from Seattle, has this high, lonesome voice that perfectly suits his mournful, meditative folk songs. San Francisco-based John Vanderslice has a more conversational type of voice, keeping the focus on his vivid, finely wrought storytelling, as you might expect from a guy who has worked with word-smart veterans like the Mountain Goats and Death Cab for Cutie. Both Jurado, the opener, and Vanderslice, the headliner, put on riveting performances in front of a mostly rapt and hushed crowd that paid $15 a ticket, in comparison with the $5 to $10 most of the shows I go to cost.