You are in some down and dirty bar. It smells like old beer and bathroom disinfectant. The decor looks the same as it did when Truman was President. The crowd looks like it goes from 18 to 80 in age. They say they don't much care for blues music but what is happening on stage is getting them very excited. The singer is singing about the virtues of whipped cream and maple syrup and hitting it from behind. At times she's sounding like Etta James or Koko Taylor or Big Mama Thornton; all singers that inspired Janis Joplin. Other times she is sounding like she just left church after singing lead in the choir. The bass and drums move along like a rock steady locomotive playing electrified delta blues. The harp player is playing notes so thick and dirty it's scary. The guitar is raw and primitive.
A juke joint in the 50's in Clarksdale, Mississippi? Helena, Arkansas? Or even Chicago, Illinois? No this is in a bar outside of Boston Massachusetts. The year is 2012. And the band? The band is called The Dirty Mac Blues Band.
