Valentine's Day was spent the melancholy way at the 20th Century, as singer Maura O'Connell combed the Americana songbook for a performance full of love songs, many of the broken-hearted variety.

        The Nashville song stylist covered tunes by such singer-songwriters as Patty Griffin, John Prine and Kim Richey, with renditions highlighting the writing as much as the Irish-born singer's pretty voice.

        Most of the tunes appear on Wall & Windows, a CD released in November. Thursday night's show in Oakley was her first since releasing the album, she told the crowd of 251.

        Ms. O'Connell never may have heard of Sally Timms, the British singer living in Chicago, but the similarities are numerous between Walls & Windows and Ms. Timms' 1999 Bloodshot Records album Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos. Both are collections of sad, rootsy love songs sung pristinely by British Isles expatriates.

        At the end of Ms. O'Connell's 90-minute set, it was clear her tastes run a little more middle-of-the-road than those of the alt-country-leaning Ms. Timms.

        Ms. O'Connell and her four-man acoustic band closed the show with a version of fellow countryman Van Morrison's “Crazy Love,” a rather safe choice. More interesting was the introduction, in which she called it a folk song by definition, because its far-reaching popularity has placed it in the musical vernacular.

        Covering Eric Clapton also could seem a bit safe, but Ms. O'Connell chose a relatively unknown newer song, “I Get Lost,” and it turned out to be one of the show's stronger moments. The song is about “the dark spot in a relationship,” she said, a description she used in introducing about a half-dozen tunes on the night.

        Mr. Prine's “Sleepy Eyed Boy” is another unknown gem. That is, the original is a gem. Ms. O'Connell reported that Mr. Prine, whom she called “everybody's hero,” was pleasantly surprised she chose to revamp the song into a dirge.

        It's a guess, but perhaps everybody's hero was just being nice. Ms. O'Connell's version, minus Mr. Prine's patented natural beat and plus Ms. O'Connell's flowery singing, was the night's biggest misfire.

Where the rare books are
Lectures explore holy books of major faiths
'Dracula' musical's composer counts on CCM team
Boycott looms over arts planning
DAUGHERTY: Everyday
People still honk to greet her Beetle
She's not 'Crazy,' just determined
Ski for Light a week in a snowy utopia
Women of Year nominees make a difference
O'Connell turns Valentine's Day into broken hearts club
Pianist provides sparks in all-Russian concert
The Bears prove they're still local Fab Four
Well-done 'Men' takes few risks
Opera star Graves to open arts center
DEMALINE: The Arts
Long-lived restaurants linked to presidents past
MARTIN: Food stuff
Serve it this week: Broccoli
Get to it