By Adrian Mack
At the Rio Theatre on Friday, January 16

The Rio Theatre has amazing acoustics. That was clear with the first long, true, lonely howl from Dustin Bentall’s harmonica, at the top of an outstanding opening set on Friday night.

Judging by the songs he previewed from a forthcoming album, especially a deft defence of art over workaday drudgery called “Draft Dodger”—which also featured a smoking fiddle breakdown from kewpie-doll-sized Kendel Carson—North Van’s own cosmic cowboy has new material strong enough to match his performance chops.

The judges of the Independent Music Awards apparently agree. Last week, Bentall received the best-country-song nod for a cowrite with Ridley Bent called “Nine Inch Nails”. He decisively won over a lively and receptive audience with that number, which describes a breakup in terms of who got what in the record-collection department, although a quasi-slam on Hüsker Dü drew a murmur of confusion. After all, most of this group probably ended up in roots territory after a long apprenticeship in ’80s punk—which might explain their passion for the tough and flinty headliner, Kathleen Edwards.