Crenshaw had a string of success in the 1980s with a handful of clever catchy pop songs. There's an element in his material that begs for the bashing backbeat of a hard-driving quartet, but there's also a side that craves a more secretive situation, where his finely crafted songs can breathe on their own and are heard in a more clandestine manner.

At the Linda, Crenshaw looked comfortable in his cap, black sweater, scruffy goatee and trademark glasses as he offered his tunes and stories aided and abetted only by one blonde: a vintage Gibson hollow-body electric.

There was nothing lacking as Crenshaw kicked off a powerful set that rang true with a chimey hopefulness. The yearning "Fantastic Planet of Love" was stocked with juicy jazz chords, an ode to love just out of reach, while the dark "Long and Complicated" was a little of both, but in a good way.

Showing his roots, "Cynical Girl," was Buddy Holly-inspired yet soaked in Crenshaw's sardonic wit. A simple chord/melody guitar instrumental showed his considerable six-string skills, while his voice had a classic yearning anxiousness during the buoyant "Something's Gonna Happen." The bittersweet "Where Home Used To Be" was about the ramifications of many moves some folks find themselves making.

One of his songs "about sleeping and dreaming," the beautiful "What Do You Dream Of?" was simply haunting: "You're My Favorite Waste Of Time,"was pure pop perfection, while "Dime-A-Dozen Guy" was an eerie exercise in jealousy.

Though just playing by himself, Crenshaw has a way of incorporating guitar hook lines within his chord-playing.

Though he claimed "I almost forgot about this one," all the best parts of Crenshaw combined for a picture-perfect pop song with the eternally gorgeous "Someday, Someway."

A national treasure living regionally in the Hudson Valley, Crenshaw delivered the goods on a rainy Saturday night in Albany.

David Malachowski is a local freelance writer from Woodstock and a regular contributor to the Times Union.

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