Just when it seemed like the blues was going away, or at least entering an age of irrelevance, a new generation of musicians has clearly stepped up to take over for all of those old black guys who are disappearing at a furious clip.
Plenty of performers have released plenty of great rockin' blues records over the past year or so. Roy Rogers -- the guitar player, not "the King of the Cowboys" -- and Ray Manzarek (yup, the Doors dude) teamed up to release a knockout CD called "Translucent Blues." JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound put out some good music, as did Seasick Steve.
But probably the best of all of them is Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears out of Austin. The group is coming to UC Santa Barbara's Campbell Hall on Thursday night.
