Tom Jones

The Read

Tom Jones spent decades being underrated because he was too popular — the Vegas association, the sixties pop hits, the whole spectacle. The late-career records reframed him: stripped-down gospel, blues, and folk material sung by a man with nothing left to sell. That is the version of him that makes sense in Nashville. The Ryman is a church with a stage, and it does something specific to singers who have earned the right to stand still. Expect “Delilah” and “It’s Not Unusual,” because he is not withholding them, but the better moments will be the quiet ones where the band drops out and the room finds out what is actually left in that voice. At his age, every show like this is worth taking seriously.

The Room

Ryman Auditorium

116 5th Ave N

Built in 1892 as a tabernacle by river captain Thomas Ryman, who was converted at a Sam Jones revival — little did he know it would become the church of American roots music.