Upcoming pop shows: Vince Gill/Lyle Lovett, Teen Men, Johnny Showcase

Some of the most fun I had in 2014 listening to music was watching Vince Gill perform with a band called the Time Jumpers at a club called 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, where the veteran country star plays every Monday night he's in town. Gill is the only household name on the gig, filled with primo A-list country-music studio musicians playing Western swing and honky-tonk classics. (Go there if you ever get the chance, country fans.)

It demonstrated what a sympathetic, self-effacing musician Gill is. He's a guy who will do whatever it takes to to help a song along and support his fellow players, until it comes for his moment in the spotlight, which is when, with his guitar playing and soulful tenor, you realize he's the most talented person in the room.

In this show, slated for January but rescheduled due to nasty winter weather, Gill will be playing that role in relation to the great iconoclastic Texas songwriter Lyle Lovett, a pretty impeccable singer and musician in his own right. They'll share the stage all night long. Should be a good one.

- Dan DeLuca

Neither teens nor all men, Teen Men is a new project from two members of Wilmington's Spinto Band (Nick Krill and Jeff Hobson) and two friends whose prior work has been in the visual rather than performing arts (filmmaker Albert Birney and Yale MFA Catharine Maloney).

Their self-titled debut album is full of sunny but nervous pop music: some new wave synth-pop, a bit of jittery guitar rock in the vein of early Talking Heads albums, a few dreamy psychedelic ballads. The album fits with Krill and Hobson's Spinto Band work. But live, Birney and Maloney's roles become more prominent, with interactive video and other visual components.

Krill will do double duty at Johnny Brenda's as guitarist for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its much-loved debut album with two shows.

   - Steve Klinge

Johnny Showcase is really picking up steam in Philly.

A self-proclaimed hybrid of Prince and Andy Kaufman, Showcase gets lots of help on stage. The eight musicians call themselves an "absurdist soul outfit," and Johnny culls magic from his spiritual adviser, the inimitable Rumi Kitchen, and his shtick-devoted "vacuous" pair of female backup vocalists, the Truth. Providing bass, drums, guitar, and keys, the Mystic Ticket is Showcase's secret weapon. Together they've been bringing down houses all over town ever since 2011's Love Is the Message, yielding glorious classics like "Hit It from the Back," "Cocaine Sandwich," and "Sensual Pts. 1 & 2." Their magic lies in a blend of humor, overt sexiness, and rather stunning musical execution.

You worud swear Johnny's a time traveler who had to pull himself away from lounging with Sly Stone for this Boot & Saddle gig, but no - it's just his soul that's of another era.

- Bill Chenevert