Randy Newman continues to tour with songs from his latest album, Harps and Angels, along with classics from throughout his career, in his home state of California this weekend: Friday at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Saturday at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, and Sunday at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara.

Before heading west, he played the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee, last night, offering an interesting contrast to the evening's Presidential debate and in the process, says Wayne Bledsoe of the Knoxville News, "making more sense than a raft of politicians have in a decade."

Bledsoe calls Randy "one of the great songwriters of the rock era—and a guy who never takes the easy way with a lyric." He offers that "Newman's songs are often bitterly sarcastic, yet it's clear that Newman's intention is to make his audience think while they're laughing."

In that vein, Randy admitted to having perhaps jumped the line of propriety with the song "Korean Parents," off the new album, but, insists Bledsoe, "Few artists know how to jump that line with such charm and expertise."

To read the concert review, visit knoxnews.com.

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Leading to this weekend's concert at the Golden State Theatre, Monterey Herald correspondent Beth Peerless offers a profile of this man with "a niche all his own—a unique kind of guy, you might say."

Peerless declares Randy "a Hollywood institution" and "a throwback to the days of Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building," with "his creative spirit, wry lyricism and his journeyman approach to work and life" reflected on the songs of Harps and Angels—all of which "are pure Newman, with wry observations on life ..."

The article continues:

Harps and Angels boasts a deceptively easy-going quality even as it tackles matters of life and death, memory and loss, the discontent of the rich and famous, the problems of the poor, governmental malfeasance, corporate cynicism and the veritable end of an empire, namely our own ... His musical arrangements are brilliant and each song's personality is matched by the tone of the composition; he's the master at placing notes and rhythm in line with the character and its predicament.

To read the article, visit montereyherald.com. For information on Saturday's show, visit goldenstatetheatre.com.

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The Santa Barbara Independent's Brett Leigh Dicks concurs that Harps and Angels "finds the native Californian at his satirical best." Dicks previews this Sunday's show with an interview with the singer-songwriter she calls "the quintessential storyteller." Read the Q&A at independent.com. For more on the show, visit lobero.com.