When Bruce Hornsby returned to the Strand Theatre in York on November 12, it was the type of concert where the musicians exchanged a lot of smiles. And indeed they had a lot to smile about. They were constantly trying to impress and surprise themselves, throwing subtle twists and turns into a style of music not exactly known for taking too many twists and turns.

Three time Grammy award winner Bruce Hornsby, known to the rest of the world for Top 20 hits such as "The Way It Is" and "Mandolin Rain," has become a hero of heartland rock, taking songs that would’ve fared well on ’80s radio, in blocks with John Mellencamp and Bryan Adams, and injecting elements of literacy and improvisation in their bloodlines.

Writing hits like "The End Of The Innocence" for Don Henley, and "Jacob’s Ladder" for Huey Lewis, Hornsby found pop success and decided that it just wasn’t interesting enough for him. Years back, Kevin Costner called Bruce Hornsby on the phone and asked if he’d write some tunes for a new movie he was starring in called The Bodyguard. Hornsby read the script and passed. It is important to understand this if you want to know about his show in York, because it is precisely this type of integrity that Hornsby brought to the Strand.

The three-and-a-half hour, two-set affair was just one more attempt by the prolific performer to play songs the audience has heard many times before and make them sound unlike any they have ever heard before. And — this is the key — also unlike any he has ever played before.

He brought with him the right band for the job. Bonnie Bonaparte was a powerhouse on drums, bringing a little bit of Keith Moon to Hornsby’s blend of soft rock. JV Collier inflected the tunes with Victor Wooten style slap-and-pop bass. Guitarist Doug Derryberry, noted for studio work with Dave Matthews Band, Vertical Horizon and others, played clean rhythm guitar, sometimes hitting the distortion pedal to play a lick from "Cat Scratch Fever" or to bring up the lead. John "J.T." Thomas on keyboards and Bobby Read on saxophone completed the line-up, leaving each tune sounding full and orchestrated despite constant improvisation and spontaneous amendments. Of course, at the heart of this garden was Hornsby himself, alternating between his Baldwin grand piano and an accordion, leading the band through unrehearsed territory.

Take for example, "Rainbow’s Cadillac," a familiar nugget from Hornsby’s repertoire. About a quarter of the way into the song the band gradually picked up the melody to the showtune, "On Broadway," and backed up Bruce when he started singing verses from the bluegrass classic, "Uncle Pen" before finishing the song with its proper ending.

Throughout the evening, Hornsby showed his ability to not just reinvent his own songs, but others as well, as in his up-tempo, swinging versions of Bob Dylan’s "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and the Grateful Dead’s "Ripple," the latter of which brought shouts from the Deadhead constituency to "Play more Jerry [Garcia]!" (Bruce was an honorary member of The Grateful Dead in the early ’90s, and continues to be an integral part of the Dead’s current incarnation, The Other Ones.)

Hornsby not only pleased the audience, he effectually gave the show over to them, allowing them to interact through constant back-and-forth banter, allowing them to steer the course by constantly honoring requests, and allowing them to actually become the show itself when he invited a group of girls on-stage to dance for a couple of numbers.