Lyle Lovett gives generous performance in Cedar Rapids

Lyle Lovett seems to be a generous fellow. During his concert at the Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, he was generous in his praise of Cedar Rapids, particularly the White Star Ale House - where he and members of his band enjoyed libations the night before.

He was generous to the musicians sharing the stage with him. Each member of His Large Band - and at 13 members, it is, indeed, large - took solos over the course of the evening, many of them extended. Lovett sang harmony vocals on a song by guitarist Keith Sewell and helped him plug his most recent record. He turned the stage over to powerhouse vocalist Francine Reed, who very nearly tore the house down with her take on 'Wild Women Don't Get the Blues.”

And Lovett was generous to the audience, almost to a fault. He and the band performed for two hours and 40 minutes without taking an intermission. That felt long to me, but I'll admit I feel ungenerous for saying so.

After all, the concert was excellent. Lovett and company filled the evening with witty and wry songs in a variety of styles. A sharp horn section, including two members of the legendary Muscle Shoals Horns, accented the efforts of a band built for country music, complete with fiddle, slide guitar, stand-up bass and the occasional mandolin.

Drummer Russ Kunkel, a man whose resume includes sessions and tours with some of the biggest names in music dating back decades, laid down perfect grooves all night. And native Iowan John Hagen, who has been playing with Lovett since the late 1970s, proved that a cello is a natural addition to a flexible, creative musical outfit.

And Lovett was impeccable. He can deliver quirky lyrics with an appealing smirk and then turn around and offer up a heart-wrenching, old-school country ballad. Indeed, he showed off both his knack for humor and for yearning ballads by opening with Tammy Wynette's 'Stand By Your Man.” Many of the best numbers of the night had the audience laughing, including 'If I Had a Boat,” a song that offers a surprise in the second line: 'If I had a boat, I'd go out on the ocean/And if I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat.”

Late in the show, Lovett and the band offered up 'Church,” a gospel song about a preacher who goes on too long. It's a hot, funny number, and it felt just a little like a sly wink at the audience, acknowledging the length of the show. I thought it might be the closer, but it turned out Lovett's musical message would roll on for several more songs, including two encores.

Like a long but well-crafted and delivered sermon, Lovett's performance was a stem-winder, but it also was edifying and uplifting.