Joe Louis Walker, blues, and so much more

Joe Louis Walker, who will appear at the Attucks Theatre on Saturday, is considered by critics and fans to be one of the elder statesmen of blues, along with such luminaries as B.B. King and Buddy Guy.

But sometimes he sings the blues about being typecast as a blues man.

Yes, the 61-year-old Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist opened for King in the '80s and, when he was younger, other blues greats.

"When I was 16 I opened for guys like 'Mississippi' Fred McDowell, Lightnin' Hopkins and Magic Sam," he recalled in a recent phone interview. "I first learned the blues from my father and mother. My mother was always playing stuff like T-Bone Walker, Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King, B.B. King, B.B. King. She loved that man."

With then-President Bill Clinton looking on, Walker helped present a Kennedy Center award to his mom's hero in 1995. And last year he was named Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar) by the Living Blues Awards.

Walker's recent albums feature titles such as "Witness to the Blues" (2008), "Between a Rock and the Blues" (2009), and his most recent, a 2010 all-star live session recorded on a cruise ship, "Joe Louis Walker's Blues Conspiracy: Live on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise."

But he isn't just about the blues.

"I've never been a one-trick pony; I like chicken, but I don't eat it seven days a week," he said. "The blues is just one component of what I am."

Walker grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District, a community that in the early '60s underwent a transformation from an all-black neighborhood to a bohemian section that saw an influx of musicians who put the city on the musical map.

"It was like Harlem before any white people lived there," he said. "Then younger white people moved in; you could let your hair down there."

Walker roomed with Michael Bloomfield, the blues guitar icon who played with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, began the Electric Flag and introduced Bob Dylan to the electric guitar He opened for Thelonious Monk and Marty Balin, co-lead singer and founding member of Jefferson Airplane.

Walker began performing at age 12 with his cousin's blues/R&B band. Later he enrolled at San Francisco State University, where he earned degrees in music and English. After that he spent 10 years as lead guitarist for the gospel group The Spiritual Corinthians.

"Then in 1985 I did nothing but blues and secular music," he added. "I've played with so many different musicians. I've made a jazz record (2002's 'Pasa Tiempo') and played with rock guys like the Edge, Nick Lowe, members of Hall & Oates' band and so many others."

He said he listens to and learns from classic country artists.

"Hey, it ain't nothing but white man's blues; there's nothing fake about it," he said. "You can learn as much from Merle Haggard as you can from Howlin' Wolf. I once got quite a bit of good advice from Buck Owens."

Walker said the Attucks concert will reflect his musical outlook and influences. He said he'll play plenty of lead guitar riffs and he'll duel with the group's other guitarist, Murali Coryell, son of jazz guitar great Larry Coryell and a rising blues/jazz star in his own right.

"He plays with me, his father and Buddy Guy; he's simply an amazing player," Walker said. "There'll be a little slide, a little harmonica and some soul, gospel harmonizing and rock."

Eric Feber, (757) 222-5203, eric.feber @pilotonline.com