Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt have earned their places in the pantheon of great American songwriters. Both have a God-given way with constructing a melodious hook, and both seem to effortlessly produce lyrics that are at turns poetically funny, sad, triumphant or blue—sometimes within a single song. Hiatt’s career began when he left Indiana and arrived in Nashville at the age of sixteen, landing a songwriting job with Tree Publishing for $25 a week. After penning “Sure as I’m Sitting Here” for Three Dog Night, one of the 250 songs he produced as a hired tunesmith, he embarked on a solo career that finally gelled with 1987’s Bring the Family—making him one of those “overnight successes” that only took 15 years of hard work to achieve. Many artists including Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan—who’s a pretty fair composer himself, have covered his songs. Sometime-actor Lyle Lovett’s career got a publicity boost in 1993 when he eloped with movie star Julia Roberts, whom he’d met while filming Robert Altman’s The Player. This short-lived union nevertheless put the man and his astonishing mix of folk, blues, gospel, jazz and swing into a national spotlight, and legions of fans subsequently fell under the same sophisticated and touching musical spell that had wooed “America’s Sweetheart.” Billed as an acoustic evening, the event is a rare opportunity to hear their wonderful songs as they originally sounded—with lone guitars accompanying the heartfelt stories of two genuine troubadours. Anyone who appreciates a great tune should not miss this stellar double-bill.

Friday, February 22 at 8pm. Mainstage Theatre, UB Center for the Arts, North Campus. (645-ARTS/Ticketmaster.com)

$50, $45, $40, students $25.