Mike Doughty Plays Solo at SOhO

At a time when every Joe and Jane Crackerjack is Twittering away their life to an eager public, it’s not necessarily remarkable that singer/songwriter Mike Doughty would also be broadcasting his words to the online world. However, his decision to offer himself for inspection and dissection-through his blog, his Twitter account, and the occasional column for the Huffington Post-stands out because Doughty formerly fronted ’90s band Soul Coughing. Even the more radio-friendly selections from Doughty’s Soul Coughing days defy interpretation, so it’s noteworthy that the man who wrote the lyrics to “Super Bon Bon” and “Circles”-as well as a whole catalogue of surreal and enticingly strange songs beloved by Doughty disciples-would grant access to his mind’s inner workings.

Of course, Doughty has been performing as a solo artist for years, composing new songs, preserving his poetic flair and lyrical depth, and allowing his meaning to ring through a bit more clearly. He’s reached new audiences, too. His phenomenal “I Hear the Bells,” for example, was featured on both Veronica Mars and Grey’s Anatomy, giving those TV shows’ fervent fan bases a chance become familiar with the raspy-voiced man whose lyrics eloquently compare those titular bells to “emeralds,” “glints in the night,” and “commas and ampersands.” Doughty’s current tour-a San Diego-to-Seattle jaunt during the first two weeks of May-aims to share his sound with the Western Seaboard, yet also emphasize his status as an artist who’s keener on a dialogue with fans than many of his guitar-toting colleagues.

Case in point: He dubbed the tour The Question Jar Show. Throughout, audiences will be encouraged to write questions on slips of paper that Doughty will then respond to onstage. “It’s a way of making the talking onstage a little more spontaneous,” Doughty explained, noting that people usually ask questions anyway-by yelling, often from within a crowded venue. This makes the exchange easier. “I guess it’s sort of bridging the kind of commentary world of my blogging and other writing with the musical world of my songs,” he said. And he’s right. (Think Twitter unplugged.) A caution to those planning to attend his May 7 show at SOhO, however: Don’t think of it as a medium to request songs. “Those rarely get fulfilled,” he said, with old Soul Coughing hits especially unlikely to fit into a given show’s setlist. “But I’m taking questions-on any topic. The weirder the better.” And in what some might consider a challenge to Santa Barbara’s concert-going public, Doughty won’t worry about what might get thrown at him. “How bad could they possibly be?” he asked of the Question Jar’s contents.