2 necks, but don't fret

Jan. 13—Guitarist Junior Brown moved near unincorporated Kirksville, Indiana, from his birthplace of Cottonwood, Arizona, as a youth. Kirksville is a 60-mile drive from Indianapolis down an interstate that didn't yet exist in Brown's formative years in the 1950s. It was about as country as country gets — including the music, which Brown has said was inescapable. After finding a guitar in his grandparents' attic, he taught himself by playing along with songs on the radio.

By the mid-1980s, Brown had been performing for years, often switching between acoustic and steel guitar while singing. He addressed this inconvenience by inventing the "guit-steel," a two-necked guitar that allows Brown to easily switch back and forth between sounds. The hybrid instrument is now a hallmark of Brown's career, appearing with him on the covers of several of his critically acclaimed albums. Brown will showcase his unique playing and many original songs during a performance with his wife, Tanya Rae Brown, in Madrid.

7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, Engine House Theater at the Mine Shaft Tavern, 2846 N.M. 14, 505-473-0743, themineshafttavern.com