Citizen Cope

Clarence Greenwood is everywhere and nowhere. Turn on the television or go to a movie theater and you're certain to hear his driving choruses or melodic refrains leit-motifing all kinds of popular culture (see Entourage, Teton Gravity Research, Acura commercials, and others). Greenwood, who records under the name Citizen Cope, also represents a chameleonic musical Everyman — he plays guitar and the keys, sings, and DJs (his initial foot in the door). Which is why, even with a burgeoning fan base, he still flies under the category-craving radars of many. It's this sense of intimate celebrity, this beyond-the-tipping-point-yet-still-undiscovered vibe, that keeps audiences from bemoaning Citizen Cope's habitually late starts and sometimes intoxicated performances. But his current stripped-down acoustic tour (staged with a complete mock living room) has received Twitterpating reviews acknowledging how well his live sound holds up to his records, striking a careful balance between romantic and political, soulful and sparse, emotive and detached.