How do you write about a man whose life is a mystery?

That’s the dilemma that faces otherwise unstumpable music writers when tasked with telling their readers about Leon Redbone, the vaudeville revivalist who’ll play in Bend on Tuesday.

Befitting a man whose face is obscured by a thick mustache and black sunglasses, Redbone’s origins are largely shrouded in secrecy. His real name is up for debate. He keeps his exact birth date and birthplace close to his vest. He performed the theme song for “Mr. Belvedere.”

Spooky!

What is known about Leon Redbone, however, is his dedication to honoring old-time music. He became known thanks to his appearances on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1970s, but has sustained a three-decade-plus career with, as a press release from the Tower says, “tunes from the turn-of-the-century (as in the second-to-last century), flapper-era radio ditties, Depression-spawned ragtime and World War II folk-jazz.”

Leon Redbone, with opener Morgan Preston ; 7 p.m. Tuesday; $20 and $25, available at www.towertheatre.org, 541-317-0700 or the Tower box office; Tower Theatre, 835 N.W. Wall St., Bend; 541-317-0700 or www.tower theatre.org.