When I was an inebriated, art-obsessed student in Denton, TX in the mid-90s, fewer events were a “sure thing” than a concert by Denton weirdo Corn Mo, who now lives in New York. Corn Mo was one guy with an accordion and occasionally a bag of magic tricks (literally), who walked the line between musician and performance artist so finely that we frequently stood, jaws agape, as ‘Mo played Motley Crue on the squeezebox and did those tricky interlocking rings during the bridge. As gimmicky as that sounds (and is), his brilliance was in keeping the schtick from being two-dimensional, mostly by infusing his songs with a ton of emotion. He has one song about a relation ship gone boring and another about how much he misses his dead dog that get me every time. Then, to balance it out, he has an amazing accordion tribute to Texas wrestling legend Kerry Von Erich.

The last time he was in Portland, he was opening for the Polyphonic Spree (of which he was also a member), and my friend, whom I dragged along to catch Corn Mo as the first act on the bill, was blown away by showmanship and songs.

He’s in town again as part of the Monsters of Accordion show at the Kennedy School tonight (5736 NE 33rd, 7 pm, $10, kids free), and if you’re not driving out to see Wilco tonight, this is going to be the sleeper show of the week. Here’s Corn Mo on Jimmy Kimmel doing “Busey Boy,” a song about a kid who glues rice and cranberries to his face, then gets mistaken for Gary Busey when he goes out in public.