Bruce Hornsby isn’t a star – he’s a musician.

And if you attended Hornsby’s concert expecting to hear faithful radio re-creations of his adult contemporary hits, well, you probably walked out of The National scratching your head – but hopefully at least feeling a bit more musically enlightened.

At Saturday’s sold-out show – technically a hometown gig since he hails from Williamsburg – Hornsby tackled the piano, dulcimer and accordion for about three hours, never seemingly knowing where the music was going to take him or his awesome Noisemakers band, but always managing to find the sweet spot.

Set lists are almost verboten at a Hornsby gig; he prefers fielding written requests from the crowd (check out his Web site, http://www.brucehornsby.com to see collages of some of his favorites) and allowing his band to follow his lead.

He got to work quickly Saturday night, approaching his piano with a handful of requests, the sleeves of his dark, button-down shirt rolled up. “Big Rock Candy Mountain” began with Hornsby solo at the piano, but the rest of the Noisemakers gradually joined in, building to a crescendo, in a scene that would be repeated frequently throughout his two generous sets.

It’s been many years since Hornsby played Richmond with a full band – he noted from the stage that he couldn’t remember the last time, either, but we’re going to guess it was at least the mid-‘90s – and this quintet of stellar musicians only augmented the loose, free-flowing vibe of the night.

“We like the setting of this place. We like the feel of it,” Hornsby said about his first-ever visit to The National.

“White Wheeled Limousine” was an exhausting musical workout, as Hornsby played jazzy, circular piano patterns and saxophonist Bobby Read – who also handled woodwinds and flute during the concert – poured out a searing solo.

Hornbsy is touring behind his just-released album, “Levitate,” and performed “Continents Drift,” a ballad colored with synthesizers and mandolin that is also part of the soundtrack to the off-Broadway show he’s been working on for a few years.

As further proof of his chameleonic musical abilities, Hornsby sat in a folding chair at the edge of the stage, dulcimer on his lap, for the funky hoe-down “Shadow Hand,” then strapped on an accordion for the Ricky Skaggs-bluegrass version of “Jacob’s Ladder” (remember when Huey Lewis and the News hit No. 1 on the charts with their soul-pop rendition in 1987?).

The casual fans got one of the few tastes of Hornsby’s mainstream work as he closed the first set by joking, “Let’s do a song by Tupac Shakur,” then launched into “The Way It Is,” his breakthrough smash sampled by many artists, including the late rapper.

An artist of Hornsby’s caliber is always going to turn his work inside out, both for the challenge and to examine its structure. The backbone of this version of “The Way It Is” resembled the original, but then the song was shifted onto another plane when a meaty drum solo by the terrific Sonny Emory was plopped into it.

During the second set, Hornsby briefly got radio friendly again with “Walk In the Sun,” a stirring midtempo song stuffed with those rich Hornsby chord progressions that, he said dryly, “Got to number 55 with an anchor on the Billboard 100 in 1995.”

Shifting pace again, he and the band strutted through “Simple Prayer,” a fun pop song with a N’Awlins swing that Harry Connick Jr. would appreciate.

Even though there is nothing ostentatious about a Hornsby concert, effective lighting offered the slightest drama on stage – not to mention, it was easy to be rendered slack-jawed at some of his piano runs.

So no, Hornsby isn’t the guy you’re going to see profiled in People Magazine, but you might find him talking about his craft to Keyboard Magazine – which is exactly where you want to see him.

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