Los Angeles – “Take off your clothes.” Jake Bugg, 19, looked up from his guitar and smiled, a little embarrassed at the audience outburst, and after a beat kept singing. It was one of four times he smiled during his sold-out show at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood.

He looks 12.  And he kind of acts it, too. Sweet, humble, a little embarrassed, solemn. He wears all black—jeans, shirt, and rubber-soled shoes with black laces. And when the audience wasn’t telling him to take off his clothes or asking him how he was doing, you could hear a pin drop.

The singer/songwriter from Clifton, Nottingham, who started playing guitar at 12, is further proof that the UK puts out some of the best music anywhere.  The folk/country/rock singer counts The Beatles, Donovan, Jimi Hendrix and Oasis among his influences, and smoking and drinking among his interests. It’s almost hard to find a photo of him without a cigarette in his mouth.

Beatle-esque in look and demeanor, with slightly messy brown hair that falls just short of his eyes, and a yodel that would make Bob Dylan jealous, Jake Bugg is the real deal. Playing most of his self-titled debut album, and a few that weren’t on there, including “Out of the Blue”–“by a man called Neil”—Jake Bugg was serious, humble and absolutely perfect.  To put it bluntly, this kid is a star.

He doesn’t miss a note. He leans forward when he sings, his teeth and his lips wrap around the words animatedly, his head lifts up on moments of emphasis, during which you can see the chords in his neck straining. On more guitar-heavy moments he sinks in his hips and bends his knees a little, like his feet are grasping at the ground.

He loves it, you can tell. His eyes were closed or half-closed during most of his performance, but he would look out into the crowd at rare moments, curious, almost confused.  Not staring blankly into the lights or over heads but looking at faces.  He stood at the front of the stage with his guitar, for the most part stationary, feeding all his energy to the mic. His show has a classic aesthetic (with back-up guitarist and drummer) and it proved simple is still best.  There were no outlandish effects or special lights or costumes or shenanigans.  Simple rock, simple melodies, stunning lyrics, pitch perfect, expertly driven vocals.

He said almost nothing to the crowd except to respond to their now-and-again shouts or to introduce an occasional song.  In fact the most he said was at the end: “Thank you very, very much for havin’ me” and “I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”  (In his at times unintelligible, characteristic accent.) He threw two guitar picks into the audience, walked purposefully downstage right, close enough to the crowd to almost jump in, his hand up in a sort-of motionless wave. He stopped, seeming to reconsider, almost embarrassed, nodded quickly and exited with his head down.   This was his final exit of course, after his encore.

It was a brilliant performance to an enamored crowd, one of many to come for this very talented musician. His new album “Shangri La” will be released Nov. 18.

For more on Jake Bugg go HERE and HERE