A.A. Bondy brings some folk sensibility to Mr. Smalls

A.A. Bondy with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Deep Sea Diver

8 p.m.

All ages

Tickets: $25

866-468-3401

In a contemporary musical climate overpopulated by talented indie-folk musicians, the ability to stand out from the crowd is a rare and valued commodity.

For one Alabama-bred artist, however, standing out might be a matter of merely producing quality music and maintaining a quirky and quasi-ironic persona.

A.A. Bondy — short for Auguste Arthur, the birth name of Scott Bondy — certainly fulfills both requirements, and he can prove it to Pittsburgh when he performs at Millvale’s Mr. Small’s Theatre July 12 with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band and Deep Sea Diver.

Though he calls Birmingham his home, Bondy is no stranger to Pittsburgh.

“My dad used to live in Pittsburgh. I used to hop the bus Downtown and ride skateboards. My friends were vandals,” Bondy said in an e-mail. “The first girl I kissed was in a Pittsburgh movie theater.”

Bondy said he has no expectations about the upcoming show.

The former lead singer of Birmingham rock band Verbena, which disbanded in 2003, Bondy left Alabama for the Catskills in New York to pursue a solo career.

From a musician who once cranked out gritty rock tracks sprang forth a much more mellow indie-folk sound.

Releasing American Hearts, his debut solo album, in 2007, Bondy takes simplistic tracks recorded and mixed by himself in a barn and inserts his contribution to the ill-defined discourse that is “Americana.”

The title track conjures themes of patriotism and community, while “Vice Rag” tackles the staples of the rockstar lifestyle — sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll — while never losing the external traditional folk sound.

These tracks fuel the bulk of concert material for Bondy’s current tour, and he will preview tracks from his upcoming September album, When the Devil’s Loose.

It is also quite appropriate that Bondy will share the stage with Bright Eyes’ front man, Conor Oberst, as the folk style runs deep between the two artists.

Bondy said, however, that music never comes up in their conversations, and that they first met in less-than-normal circumstances.

“I met Conor at a taxidermy class,” Bondy said. “He brought in an emu. I brought in an ox head.”

Though he said he enjoys performing with Oberst, when asked for his dream collaboration, Bondy comes across as intentionally vague.

“I would work with Mark Twain, Pan, a Neanderthal or cave painters,” he said quizzically. “We could be here for a while. Or no one.”

The show at Mr. Small’s Theatre will mark a departure for Bondy from the festival scene, which he said he greatly enjoys.

Some major festivals at which he has appeared include SXSW, Sasquatch and Bonaroo, which he cites as his favorite because he loves “huge drunk crowds.”

Though he will tour for the rest of the summer in prepartion for Devil’s release, Bondy remains lighthearted about where he will be five years from now.

“On the back of a pack, animal hunting snow leopards in the Himalayas,” he said. “Or probably at a 7-Eleven at three in the morning in the middle of who-knows-where, buying eye drops, beef jerky and watching the girls dance in the yellow-orange parking lot light.”

At the very least, no one can accuse him of taking the romantic roots out of folk music.

The doors will open at 7 p.m., with an 8 p.m. start time. Attendees of all ages are welcomed.