I was hoping to see a few more people at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Friday, Dec. 15 for the return of northern B.c. outlaw country musician Joey Only and keyboardist Adam Farnsworth.
I arrived in the middle of a solo set by Farnsworth who was playing humourous ditties which included a touch 
of blues, some jazz scatting and overall sounded like fellow Vancouver alt country musician Petunia with a piano.
Joey Only joined him on acoustic guitar to play some acoustic guitar and complement his quirkiness with quirky music of his own. Only told stories and sang ribald songs while cracking unsettling jokes about offing himself later that night. He sounded like a mix of Washboard Hank and Tim Hus.
His song about Newfoundland called “No Fun Land” was a highlight. As was his song about black flies in Ontario which anyone who had ever been there would identify with. He added to the humour by swatting away imaginary black flies in between chords and when Farnsworth played a piano solo.
A lot of his set explored the wild side of rural life including “A Hunting We Will Go,” and another song about a rasta growing pot in rural Ontario. He sang a couple of songs about the gentrification of Vancouver including “ Run The Bums Out of Town” and revamping blues classic Bourgeois Blues to include a few verses about Vancouver.
After some of the audience brought the duo beers, they continued with a spirited cover of Andrew Neville and the Poor Choices “Stupid Fucking Things I’ve Done” and Phil Ochs’ “ Draft Dodger Rag” and classic “the Rodeo Song.”
A couple of older songs were highlights including “Punk Rock Country Band” whichexplored his roots as a young punk who realized he also enjoyed country music as did “Spiderland Punk Fest.”
He also played his contribution to the Great Canadian Song Competition,“A Tempest Wind” in which he was competing against the Pack AD and Gordon Downie, but lost out the Aiden Knight’s song about water.
