The first major-label act to play at the Westword Music Awards. After the last accolade was dispensed, David Eugene Edwards, Jeffrey-Paul and Pascal Humbert of 16 Horsepower offered up a stirring acoustic presentation. Drummer Jean-Yves Tola, who recently moved to Tuscadero, California, was unable to appear, but the remaining players didn't use his abscence as an excuse to walk through the thirty-minutes-plus set. Far from it: Edwards attacked songs such as "Black Soul Choir" with his customary intensity, tearing at at the words with a dark ferocity that called to mind PJ Harvey. (It's no wonder that John Parish, along time Harvey collaborator, was picked to produce the act's next album, already available in Europe and due for release in this country by A&M Records next February.) Because Edwards's singing, banjo and guitar was supplemented by Humbert on guitar and Jeffrey-Paul on background vocals, cello and violin, the music was imbued with even more depth and mystery than had been the case in its previous trio format. To put it simply, 16 Horsepower is among the most adventurous and compelling bands in this great land of ours, bar none. That Edwards and company are still so accessible and so willing to give back to the local scene from which they sprang bodes well for the future.