I don’t always go out for the headliner of a show, or the last band, whatever you want to call them — if I hadn’t been completely wiped out from a weekend in Charleston, I likely would have stuck around Durham for some of Mikey Erg’s set, but straight up I was at the Pinhook last night for Dave Hause, the sometimes-frontman of the Loved Ones, and the center of my 2010 theory that everything needs more Dave Hause.

Last night’s set, two songs on the stage of the Pinhook with an electric guitar and then nine or ten more in an intimate show on the back porch with just his acoustic, just confirmed that theory for me; Dave’s Resolutions is in my top five albums of 2011 thus far, eminently listenable and heartbreakingly lonely, and looking out over Durham, just Dave and his guitar, it was even more gorgeous and sad. Dave is funny and personable with a guitar in his hands, and I remain convinced, despite never having seen him with his band, that he’s one of the best frontmen working today. How can he not be, when he’s so good all by himself? He played “Time Will Tell”, my favorite track on his record, and he covered Kathleen Edwards’ “The Cheapest Key” for me, a cover that Ash and I first heard him do in front of a sold-out Black Cat crowd, opening for Brian Fallon a year and a half ago. It’s a cheerful-sounding painfully sad song, and he does it so, so well.

I’m zonked completely today, but I’m glad I went. If I could have a Dave Hause set every six months, my mental health would be greatly improved.

Ian Graham of Cheap Girls opened, and I dug his set, though I suspect like Micah Schnabel, a lot of Ian’s stuff is written with his (much louder more electric) band in mind. They’ve been touring off and on with my beloved Two Cow Garage since last fall, and since I trust those guys’ taste, I’m even more convinced I want to see Cheap Girls, now.