An intimate audience enjoyed a laid back show from New Zealand born, Golden, B.C. based folk musician Benjamin Caldwell, Dec. 2.

He played sad, gritty, country and folk and mournful love songs powered by pleasant guitar and his raspy, weathered voice.

While I missed his first set, I caught most of his second set, for which he added Dearly Beloved/ Junkman’s Quire fiddle Megan Brown, who added tasteful and beautiful lines to his music as if she’d been playing with him forever instead of spontaneously joining him on stage for the show.

“I’m going to steal your band mate, Steve,” Caldwell quipped to Owl Acoustic Lounge owner Steve Foord who plays with Brown in several different musical incarnations.

 Caldwell took some requests from the intimate but enthusiastic audience like  “Final Countdown,”  which he said he wasn’t going to play. Brown played a few bars of the instantly recognizable anthemic riff of the ’80s classic anyway.
Instead, Caldwell had them running to buy CDs  after a couple of his own heartfelt songs including “Alberta” and  “Get On Up” which he turned into a big singalong at the end of the show.