With a voice as earth-shattering as William Shatner’s and a back-up band worthy of a much better singer, Andy Friedman brought his charm and unique brand of country to the Cat in the Cream last Friday.

The band showed up a half hour late, having driven, as Friedman put it, “500 miles to hang out with you guys and play some music.”

Telling the audience as he was tuning his guitar that he would be “just another few 15 minutes,” Friedman immediately engaged the small number of onlookers with his wisecracks, something he continued to do throughout the performance.

When Friedman launched into his first song with the lyric “You can fuck your way to the top,” a number of audience members could be seen sliding back into their seats, ready to sit out the concert purely for the shock appeal. Friedman only partially delivered, failing the entire night to make a statement with value that transcended its own wit.

Sitting out a two-hour set, concertgoers were presented with a spectrum of Friedman’s work, which ranged from the mediocre to the genius, talking blues to bluegrass, and the romantic to the ridiculous. Quite a few of the songs were gems.

“Take Me Home” was the first of these, feeling almost reminiscent of early Bob Dylan songs such as “Talkin’ New York” and “Oxford Town” in its wordplay.

With lines like “Translator took tickled to death / turned it into scratch me until I die,” Friedman established himself on an intellectual level with the audience.

“Confusion” and “Cheat With the Highway” were of a different vein, but a similar caliber, as somewhat “backwards” love songs.

During “Cheat With the Highway,” one lone couple from the audience could be seen waltzing gracefully in the corner while the rest of the crowd remained in their seats with various levels of quiet enthusiasm.   

The other strong points of the set occurred when Friedman and his band delved into the realms of bluegrass, with striking harmonies in “Cheat With the Highway,” “Guys Like Me Don’t Get Grants,” and “Taken Man.”

One of the emotional highlights of the concert occurred when, at the end of his version of John Hurt’s “Pay Day,” Friedman sat down in the audience. After about five minutes of the band playing their hearts out (sans Friedman) onstage, everyone except the drummer sat down as he launched into a nearly ten-minute long solo.

That Friedman isn’t used to playing for receptive audiences was made clear throughout the set. Early on, while playing a love song, he said he has a difficult time playing in bars.

At the end of the concert, Friedman committed the musician’s crime of offering up an encore, though there was little encouragement from the audience.

As “the dust blows forward and the dust blows back,” the dust blows musicians such as Friedman into a difficult path where the odds are stacked against commercial success.

Find out more about Friedman’s new album, Taken Man, on his website at www.andyfriedman.net.