Alela Diane and Shannon Lay bring a folk double bill to High Noon Saloon on Jan. 24

The Portland songwriter, touring her seventh album, plays a 400-capacity room on a Sunday night in January; tickets are $26.

A Sunday night in late January is when Madison needs a quiet, close-up show the most, and the High Noon Saloon has just booked a good one.

Alela Diane plays High Noon Saloon on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2027, with Shannon Lay opening. The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets are $26 through Ticketmaster. The room holds 400. The date was announced Oct. 22.

Alela Diane is a Portland-based folk singer-songwriter, and the record she's carrying on the road is her seventh album, Who's Keeping Time? She has kept a heavy schedule behind it. Times of San Diego reported in August that she was playing around 50 shows this year, across the West Coast, the East Coast and two European tours, several of them with Shannon Lay as her opener.

That pairing has already been road-tested. The two played together through the summer on the West Coast, with stops including Soda Bar in San Diego and Lodge Room in Los Angeles's Highland Park in August. Lay is a songwriter with her own following, and she has been touring well beyond the U.S., including an Australian run she discussed with Melbourne's RRR. Putting her in front of Diane makes for a bill where the opener is a reason to show up early, not a reason to linger at the bar.

A 400-capacity room on a January Sunday is about as close to a living-room show as touring folk gets.

Why this room? The High Noon Saloon's 400 capacity puts the audience right in front of the stage, which suits songs built on voice and guitar. At a show like this, the room's size is the point: a crowd small enough that a quiet song stays quiet and everybody in the place can hear it.

When to buy: a $26 ticket for two songwriters in a 400-person room is the kind of show that can sell out, and January bills with this kind of pairing don't come around often. Ticketmaster is the official seller, and the link is on this page.

What to know: the 7 p.m. start is early enough for a Sunday, so you can see both sets and still be home at a reasonable hour before Monday. Get there for Shannon Lay; she's on the bill for a reason.

Madison winters are long. A night of Alela Diane and Shannon Lay at the High Noon is a good way to break one up.

Sources: Singer Alela Diane brings 'Who's Keeping Time?' tour — Times of San Diego (timesofsandiego.com); Future Perfect: Shannon Lay on covers, crying and her upcoming Australian tour — RRR (rrr.org.au); Alela Diane w/ Shannon Lay, Madison — Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com)