Loveless pleases crowd with wide range > Young star, 6-member band in peak form

Patty Loveless showed Mainers why she’s one of the rising young stars in country music Thursday night.

Before a crowd of 1,350 at the Maine Center for the Arts, Loveless presented a sparkling, varied one-hour, 20-minute set. She displayed an engaging stage presence and a powerful, clear soprano voice.

Both Loveless and her six-member band were in peak form after a few days’ rest at home in Nashville.

Loveless, dressed in a long black skirt, silver bodice and black jeweled vest, hit the stage singing the rollicking “Overtime” from her current “On Down the Line” album.

She kept it uptempo while ripping through “A Little Bit of Love and “Gamble With Your Love.” But soon Loveless slowed things down with the heartfelt ballads “Lonely Side of Love” and “If My Heart Had Windows,” her Top 10 version of the George Jones classic.

As a young performer, Loveless offered little in the way of interaction with the audience, sticking mostly with introductions to her songs. She was at her best when she put down her guitar and sang while strolling along the Hutchins Concert Hall stage.

Instead, she and her band focused on strong musicianship, getting their chance to shine with lead guitarist Jeff King, fiddler Laura Webber and steel guitarist Tony Polittia. Offering rich harmony vocals were Webber, King and especially acoustic guitarist Tim Hensley, with whom Loveless combined on the lovely old bluegrass song “Slow Healing Heart.”

Best received by the audience were Loveless’ current hit “On Down the Line” and “Don’t Toss Us Away” and “Chains” from her breakthrough album, “Honky Tonk Angel.”

Loveless displayed a fine range of material, from ballads (“Never Grow Tired of You,” “The Night’s Too Long”) to upbeat country (“Timber I’m Falling in Love,” “Blue Memories”) to flat-out rockers (“Blue Side of Town”). She even encored with the cleaned-up version of Warren Zevon’s “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me.”

Loveless offered something for everyone in the audience, from ages 5 to 65.

Opening for Loveless was the local group Up Country. Despite problems with a squealing sound system, the group, which had a ’60s rock-folk sound, gamely rendered five of their original songs. Lead singer Nan Derry showed off a powerful, energetic voice in Up Country’s 20-minute set.