"Vic Chestnutt" read the name on the marquee, a misspelling that didn't escape the notice of the acclaimed Athens, GA, singer/songwriter. He pointed out the error, ostensibly in case the fans in the club "wanted to Google me to find out how cool I am."

Between that and the sparse crowd in attendance at The Blue Lamp Wednesday night (11/13), Chesnutt could've easily phoned this one in. He didn't. The audience moved the small tables from the back of the club to the front, the folks gathered 'round, and Chesnutt's easy manner immediately made it seem like he was playing to a living room full of his friends.

His current backing group, Elf Power--original members of the storied Athens collective Elephant 6 who also play on Chesnutt's new album, "Dark Developments"--opened the night with their own subdued set, but the force of Chesnutt's personality quickly pulled them out of their funk.

"This one's called 'Little F---er,'" Chesnutt said with a sly smile early in the set. "It's about me. I'm a little f---er."

On this night, Chesnutt, in his wheelchair, played a beat up acoustic guitar (held around his neck by a beat up rope) patched through an amp. He played a few distorted solos that were surprisingly powerful; like B.B. King or Neil Young, he can get a lot of mileage from a single string.

Chesnutt's been prolific in recent years, so much so that--even though I'm a big fan--the release of "Dark Developments" eluded me last month. It appears that the entire album made it into his set list last night. The material is striking, rife with Chesnutt's long-established dark wit, adroit lyrics and ebb-and-flow song structures.

In short, he's still writing as well as he ever did, despite the high bar he's established over more than two decades. And it's more than worth it to drag yourself out of the house mid-week to see one of today's best songwriters in person.