Ron Sexsmith and Miriam Clancy at the Transmission Room

Ron Sexsmith - memorable

To quote a certain member of the extensive famous branch of the Ron Sexsmith fanclub: Sad songs say so much ...

But the Canadian singer-songwriter knows you wouldn't want to make an entire night out of them, no matter how graceful they are. Especially if it's just you, your guitar and an occasional wander to the piano in front of a mostly seated audience at the brilliantly no-fuss small central city venue that is the Transmission Room.

No, on this third playing visit here in a decade Sexsmith showed there is far more to him that just his trademark forlorn balladry from his many studio albums.

Both his self-effacing between-song patter and tracks like Grim Trucker and Jazz At the Bookstore from his latest album Time Being had folks laughing at the gently barbed wit of his lyrics.

That gave a nice contrast to the finger-picked romantic stuff both old (Secret Heart inevitably saved for last song of the encore) and new (Reason For Our Love from the new album).

He neatly picked the eyes out of his own back catalogue and chucked in a cover of old tourmates' the Muttonbirds' Esther which endeared him to the locals and upped the count of lyrical punchlines worth giggling over.

He still sings like a cherub - and increasingly like a young Paul McCartney - and live and solo was also a chance to appreciate Sexsmith's economical elegant and seemingly effortless guitar playing.

But the heart of his songs remain his mellifluous melodies. And whether he was aiming heart-on-sleeve or gently caressing our funnybones, Sexsmith once again proved that in a world of acoustic-toting troubadours, he really is something special.

So is Miriam Clancy, the Auckland-based singer-songwriter getting some deserved attention for her independent debut Lucky One who opened the night with a impressive acoustic set which nicely dialled back the rockier numbers from the album and simply enchanted on the bittersweet ballads.