In the Middle Ages, traveling musicians called troubadours hopped from town to town, sharing songs of love and praise for townsfolk. In 2010, we may have Last.fm and BitTorrent, but the art of the troubador has been nearly lost. Luckily, there are such modern minstrels as Jonathan Richman. The former singer and guitarist of '70s alt-rock band The Modern Lovers tours the world sharing songs about everyday life, troubles and fantasies. He even played a troubadour role in There's Something About Mary. And tonight he will be sharing songs with Sacramento, at the Blue Lamp on Alhambra Boulevard. Fresh from his first tour through South America in April, Richman is now making the U.S. rounds wi

I don't get out as much as I'd like, and judging from the numbers of people usually out to hear music on a Tuesday night, neither does anyone else. But not this Tuesday! I didn't get to everything, but there were two big shows that drew very respectable crowds out into the fog and damp. The one where I spent most of my evening was at the Jonathan Richman show at the Blue Lamp. For those who know him - and most of the crowd of 100 or so seemed to - it was like old home week. For those who didn't, at least two were talked into going in when they were told that Richman was the random musician who popped up from time to time in the film "There's Something About Mary." That was Jonathan's one