It's always tough being the new guy in town - especially if you're a bluseman and the town is full of great home-grown talent. Fort Worth audiences know good blues – we have people playing right here on a regular basis who compare favorably to any national act – and that means a new guy is going to get a careful once-over before he's accepted and given his due.

This is the situation that Mississippi's Johnny Rawls faced at the J&J Blues Bar Friday night: Half-full house, and most of those had never heard him live before – they maybe knew he'd spent several decades on the road backing Z.Z. Hill, O.V. Wright and others.

Turns out Rawls and Fort Worth like each other OK. Rawls' music – which can be found on his solid 1996 debut, Here We Go - is classic-sounding '60s soul/blues: Think Hill and Wright, yes, but also Little Milton and Albert King, with a bit of Bobby "Blue" Bland and some Chicago-style shuffles for spice.

And as a live performer Rawls is impressive for his expressive, grainy vocals, his tastefully pungent guitar playing and – important, on a first trip through town such as this – his ability to work a room and win a crowd over. Oh, and one other thing: Many of the best tunes of the night were originals. Rawls and his three-man backing band can knock out an oldie like the Bland-popularized Turn On Your Love Light with vigor, but he doesn't rely on the standards to pump up a crowd.

Because of all of the above influences, there were a few times when Rawls sounded a bit average, a tad generic. Most of the time, however, as on the hard, upbeat soul of Here We Go and the agonized slow blues of I Got A Problem, he was wickedly effective, preaching his stories and squeezing taut, passionate phrases out of his guitar. Blues fans are advised to check Johnny Rawls out, either on Here or the next time he comes through town; you'll be glad you did.