Looks like you're leaning more toward the singer/songwriter edge of things... Joe Henry's easily one of my favorites doing it these days.

I really like just about everything he's done, but my personal favorites are probably "Scar" and "Civilians" ... I may be biased because I just saw him live last week and he blew my mind (again), but he really is quite good. His real talent is in his ability to combine artful lyrics, arrangement, and vocal cadence to create really evocative "whole" material that, nevertheless, always surprises... it's satisfying musically and lyrically.

Come to think of it, his latest is a pretty good intro too.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~