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Alt-Rock Singing Great Headlines Slim's

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- One of the most powerful singers to emerge from the '90s alternative-rock revolution, Mark Lanegan delivers a mix of songs from throughout his career with well-considered covers when he plays Slim's Monday night.

Blessed with a gravel-throated, sepulchral baritone and dark lyrical vision, Lanegan first came to fame lending his soulful gravitas to the riff-heavy psychedelia of Northwestern band Screaming Trees. Founded in 1985 with the Connor brothers Gary Lee and Van, the band was hailed as an influential proto-grunge act thanks to their mix of punk, garage and classic rock heard on their independently issued debut that would be picked up by SST Records.

By 1990, the Trees had been signed to major label Epic and proceeded to release a string of classic albums including Uncle Anesthesia, Sweet Oblivion (which featured the radio hit"Nearly Lost You" from the Camron Crowe movie Singles) and Dust. Meanwhile, Lanegan started his own more acoustic-oriented solo career with his 1990 debut The Winding Sheet, -- which featured contributions from Nirvana principles Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic and began the singer's collaboration with Dinosaur Jr. multi-instrumentalist Mike Johnson that continued on the acclaimed Whiskey for the Holy Ghost four years later.

The disintegration of Screaming Trees would spur Lanegan to more creative collaborations. In addition to his stint as guest vocalist in adventurous hard-rock band Queens of the Stone Age -- lending his pipes to some of the most memorable songs in that band's early catalog -- and partnered with everyone from former Belle & Sebastian cellist Isobel Campbell (for their Mercury Prize-nominated collaboration Ballad of the Broken Seas) to moody downtempo production duo Soulsavers on their acclaimed 2007 release It's Not How Far You Fall, It's How You Land to work with Afghan Whigs singer Greg Dulli for their Gutter Twins project as well as Dulli's band the Twilight Singers.

With Sub Pop Records releasing a retrospective box set of Lanegan's first five solo albums last year, the singer's current stripped-down tour has served as a career retrospective ranging from his own tunes, Screaming Trees favorites and covers of songs by Kurt Weill, Nancy Sinatra and O.V. Wright. Throw Rag singer Sean Wheeler opens the show with a solo set.

Mark Lanegan
Monday, July 11, 8 p.m. $30
Slim's

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