DARRYL PURPOSE SINGS: HE'S PREACHER OF HARD LESSONS, LOVE AND PEACE (CONCERT REVIEW)

A burly, sweet-voiced man in a black hat sang unblinking songs Friday night about a life that has been messy at times, has crossed the law and estranged a child. But in the end he was a preacher who'd learned the hard lessons of an outlaw, singing, "Follow the light, because the light is love."

About 80 people attended the coffee-house folk concert featuring Darryl Purpose presented by KRCU FM 90.9 at the University Center Ballroom.

Barney Hartline, co-host of the station's "Your Folk Connection" show, introduced Purpose as a "riches to rags story." The former card shark now makes his living writing and performing tunes about the often risky life he left behind.

"Dangerous Game," which starts out in Sri Lanka, was one of the best of these, a roiling travelogue of uncertain adventures that echoes Bruce Cockburn's "Kathmandu."

In Purpose's catchy songs hide stories about serving time, about not being able to be the father his daughter wants, about trying to go home when you haven't been there in a long time. Purpose sang them without flinching, in a warm tenor that couldn't disguise their depth of feeling.

"Going Home for Christmas" is "Leaving Las Vegas" meets "Please Come to Boston" framed by the Nativity story.

But he also sings of love and his passion for peace.

"Ring on My Hand" could become a wedding classic if only someone more famous than Purpose recorded it.

"Don't Tear Down" exhorts the listener to hold onto their truths in the face of a culture where advertising threatens to define reality.

Purpose's art sometimes approaches the melodramatic ("Last Great Kiss of the 20th Century"), but usually provides some kind of twist in the end. And even when he's telling a lie it rings with truth.

Long may he run.

Opening for Purpose was the talented Carbondale, Ill., folk duo of Carter & Connelley, whose original songs set "just outside Bosky Dell" convey a real sense of place and whose harmonies are as cozy as a fireplace on a January night.