Concert Previews

One of the songs on Tracy Bonham's new album is called "We Moved Our City to the Country," inspired by her own experience shifting between Brooklyn and Upstate New York. It's representative of the hybrid charms of

Masts of Manhatta

(the album title comes from a Walt Whitman poem). Working with a small combo featuring former Beck guitarist Smokey Hormel, the violinist-guitarist and onetime alt-rock hit maker turns down the volume and offers a beguilingly low-key mix of urban and country - pop and pastoral - with hints of a jazzy vibe. She's sharp-witted, wryly observant, and, to borrow the title of the lead single, not afraid to show her "Big Red Heart."

- Nick Cristiano

Quite a busy few months for R&B singer John Legend: First came his headlining performance to kick off the World Cup; then he nabbed a BET Humanitarian Award, followed by a handful of gigs with The Roots to showcase their upcoming joint effort,

Wake Up!

, a collection of socially conscious soul tracks slated for release next month.

Since the early days of his career, the 32-year-old singer-pianist has continually worked with other like-minded musicians (resulting in Grammy awards for his duets with Joss Stone and Al Green). But The Roots collaboration - a collection of '60s and '70s covers (plus one Legend original) - is expected to be one of the Penn grad's most compelling efforts to date.

For this tour, however, Legend's fans will have to be content with hearing his own silky-smooth solo work, kicked into sonic overdrive with the help of a 10-piece band that includes three vocalists and a horn section.

- Nicole Pensiero

Oh, Keane, to what shall we compare thee? Is Britain's piano-pounding outfit a less cloying Coldplay? Ben Folds Five with a stiff upper lip? U2 without the emotional baggage and the tour trucks to carry it? All three? Could be: The Sussex, England, band, with vocalist Tom Chaplin, pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, and drummer Richard Hughes, started life as a cover band. Their brand of cool pop benefits from all the unholy influences listed above. Not to say that this hit-making unit isn't capable of thinking for itself or making its own way. While 2008's loud, guitar-filled Perfect Symmetry opened the doors to raving and rage, this year's Night Train brought Keane to a collaboration with Somali emcee K'Naan and the bracing snort of cold funk. Still, Keane is best - and most truly in its own element - when moody and forlorn, all full-hearted passion and tender romanticism.

- A.D. Amorosi