Amos Lee writes gentle folk without lumbering into bland dad rock. Though his electric acoustic and tinkling piano accompaniment often say Nora Jones, Lee sidesteps the dull by blending truthful grit and dark shades into his love-lorn ditties. (Dude may feel “at home in a woman’s arms” but he spends “most days alone.”) It’s this willingness to be vulnerable, this embrace of authentic melancholy, which sets Amos Lee apart from Pop/R&B adult contemporaries like Jack Johnson or John Legend. He’s a modern-day James Taylor; that weightiness in song and deep, personal connection to his lyrics. More, the Philly-weaned Lee has recorded in and long been inspired by the Old Pueblo and musical pals Calexico. Note that Lee is playing his most recent release, My New Moon, in its entirety. So one never knows who might show up to sit in. Thursday, September 27 at the Fox Theatre, 17 West Congress. Doors at 8 p.m. $27-$60. All ages.