Nightcrawler by Perry Stewart

The acoustic folk duo ClarySage is named after an oil used in aromatherapy. Fittingly, some of the songs performed by Shelly Clower Niebuhr and Debbie Garner have a calming effect. Others, however, are wry little wake-up calls.

In the latter category are Anytown, USA, which laments urban conformity in general (and the architectural sins of Dallas and Atlanta in particular) and Fatt Catt, a faux blues complaint suitable for humming while leaving your lover.

You'll hear both numbers Friday when ClarySage plays Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse in Dallas. Like most of the songs on the duo's debut CD, Tell Me Your Truth, they were written by Niebuhr, whose lead vocalizing incorporates some exquisite syllable bending.

Garner supplies haunting harmony and plays a host of instruments. She and Niebuhr collaborated with Michael Eden last year to write The Corporate Maze, destined to become a hymn to victims of downsizing.

Niebuhr and Garner will be joined by fiddler Gerald Jones at Friday's concert. If Shelly's husband, Ralph Niebuhr, is present, maybe he'll reprise the bilingual benediction he speaks at the end of the album. It's a nice touch.

Uncle Calvin's is located at NorthPark Presbyterian Church, 9555 N. Central Expressway in Dallas. Tickets are $10. If you need more information, call (214) 363-0044 or check the Web site, www.unclecalvins.org.