The Blues world definitely appreciates the periodic attention it receives from mainstream media and commercial outlets. But it really doesn’t need it as long as it has musicians like Walter T. Higgs.

Blues stays vital and viable because it’s played every night by musicians who pour their hearts and souls into the music. They are oblivious to musical fads and trends and their devotion to the ongoing tradition of the blues keeps the music credible and compelling. Their creative input is constant but the bottom line to their music is the perpetuation of the blues, an artistic expression that has conformed, entertained and enlightened fans and followers around the world for more than 100 years.

Higgs is a prime perpetuator of the blues. His club-seasoned approach is true to the tradition yet open to innovation. He delivers the music as intended, personally connecting with his audience on a level that transcends notes and melody. He honors the history of the music but is also capable of personalizing it a bit in the process, fusing the past and the present to keep it moving toward the future.

Higgs is a longstanding stalwart of the Austin blues scene, one that achieved international recognition with the success of Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and a host of others. But there was a thriving Austin blues scene, with local stars like T.D. Bell, Erbie Bowser and the Grey Ghost long before the outside world discovered the Brothers Vaughn and that scene, one where Higgs stands tall today, remains very much alive and well in 21st century.

Higgs is a native of Port Arthur, Texas, the epicenter of a historically fertile musical region that has produced a litany of American music heroes, including Janis Joplin and Johnny Winter, as well as their influences, seminal style-setters like Clarence Garlow, Barbara Lynn and Pete Mayes. It’s an area where Texas and Louisiana cultural sensibilities intertwine like the tasty harp and guitar romps on this recording, playing off each other to create a gumbo blues approach that uses all manner of sonic spices and musical experience.

Higgs is also the perfect bridge between the generations of Texas blues. His early days on the Austin scene included an extended stint at the clues finding school of Antone’s, the internationally renown club where he backed a steady parade of blues legends while working in the house band. Higgs subsequently moved out ton his own and, after solidly establishing himself, moved into a blues mentor role, leading a regular back-to-the-basics Sixth Street blues jam for 13 years, schooling a new generation of blues players in the fine art of baring your soul on a nightly basis.

Through the years Higgs has refined and focused his blues approach, successfully stripping away the superficial to serve up succinct songs saturated with streetwise insights. All the songs are Higgs originals and nine of the twelve clock in at four minutes or less, leaving no time or space for anything but strong and sincere statements. It’s no-nonsense musical method that Higgs effectively uses to explore all hues of blues, from the easy-rolling, autobiographical opener “Just a Few Miles to Go” to the jumping jive of “Shake Shuffle Shimmy” to the horn-powered funk of the losing cut “Keep It Going On”.

Higgs, however, doesn’t do it alone. He’s in front of an Austin all-star blues band, beginning with electrifying effectiveness of guitarists Derick O’Brien, a highly accomplished scene veteran, and Johnny Moeller, one of the hottest up-and-coming talents. Keyboardist Riley Osbourn, saxist Mark Kazanov and percussionists James Fenner and Bradley Williams also make noteworthy contributions to the music but it is the rhythm section of drummer George Raines and bassist Larry Fulcher, who decades of blues experience stretches from the first recordings of Boz Scaggs to the latest by Taj Mahal, that best frames Higgs vocals and harp soloing.

Higgs, who long ago moved past being merely a hard-blowing harmonica hero, exhibits his blues expertise throughout the proceedings, occasionally stepping aside to let others make their musical statements. But his musical identity, one forged on the home turf of true Texas blues, is always pervasively present.

Higgs’ fad-resistant sound is one that offers the benefit of his hard-earned wisdom. It speaks of personal triumphs and tribulations, as well as shared joys and sorrows, and it does so with a meaning and melody that empowers it listeners. It’s music that retraces a rich heritage while imagining better days ahead.

In short, it’s the blues, the way it’s supposed to be played.

-Michael Point