The Bottom Line has always been one of my favorite New York City destinations for seeing live music. Despite being little more than a big, boxy room with closely packed tables, pretty ho-hum food, and not particularly cheap drinks, the sound guy is terrific, the acoustics are good, and the club's music calendar always includes a variety of eclectic, interesting bands. Eager to arrive early and get good seats, we clambered off the 6 train, and headed east towards the club.

Josh Joplin (www.joshjoplingroup.com) opened the set. I was pretty unaware of Josh... only initially being familiar with one or two of his songs. Joplin's music contains strong traces of traditional folk music (he cites Phil Ochs as a big influence) with a voice reminiscent of Michael Stipe (Joplin's "Happy at Last" actually quips "I sound like Michael Stipe and I dream like Carl Jung"). Joplin has an intriguing stage persona - a very self-conscious and self-effacing attitude. His mannerism aren't without charm, and his songs are full of witticisms and knowing winks, but I found the actual musical content to be a touch thin at this stage of Joplin's songwriting career... songs you probably wouldn't find yourself humming. There were certainly exceptions, like the infectious "Gravity", from his 2001 release Useful Music. Guitar fans on the lookout for virtuosic guitar playing probably won't be drawn to Joplin's music. Joplin plays mostly strummed open chords on an acoustic guitar - as he should - this is exactly what his music requires. Although I wasn't immediately smitten with Joplin's songwriting, his quirky stage presence certainly made for an enjoyable set.

The real reason I was at the Bottom Line was to check out Jill Sobule, who I'd discovered almost a year before, when she co-headlined a show with Ron Sexsmith. Jill's music, to me, embodies everything that "chick music" should be, but rarely is. If the name "Jill Sobule" sounds familiar to you, you'll probably remember her as the artist who penned the huge 1995 hit "I Kissed a Girl" (a song un-representative of Sobule's catalogue, which she has subsequently tried to disassociate herself from).

Sobule is a first-rate songwriter — her music invariably contains strong melodies, with clever (and usually hilarious) lyrics. Her voice is very pure and intense; her pitch is dead-accurate and unwavering. And to top it off, Sobule is a fabulous guitarist (Jill generally plays her acoustic Vagabond Travel Guitar on live gigs).

Sobule treated the rather sedate, perhaps too-sober Bottom Line crowd to an hour of humor, charm, and tasteful solo guitar playing. Being reasonably familiar with the bulk of her songbook, I was happy to hear some new material (including a wry contribution to the glut of recent war anthems - "War Correspondent In Love" - about a fictional Fox newswoman who engages in a scandalous affair with an Iraqi). As is apparently customary on her gigs, Jill summoned a member of the audience to hold her laptop, so she could glance at the lyrics to a newly-penned song while she sang and played. Sobule ended the show with her take on Mott the Hoople/Bowie's "All the Young Dudes". A nice touch...

If you haven't heard of her, or are only vaguely aware of her music, I highly recommend you investigate Jill Sobule. On her official site, you can download a number of Jill Sobule mp3s from her albums and live recordings, which are rotated quite frequently. You can even check the chords & lyrics page, and have a shot at playing her songs yourself!