Bernard Allison, son of the late guitar giant Luther Allison, is from a generation that’s not very concerned with labels—he delivers a steady groove that’s equal parts blues, rock, and funk, and whatever you choose to call that is fine by him. His eighth album, Across The Water, is his most successful fusion yet of those elements; there’s nothing studied about it at all. Part of this has to do with the extra time Bernard had to cook this one, writing and recording it off the road instead of on. The result is an eclectic collection of roots rock that may finally make him the star in the States that he already is in Europe.

Had you heard “I Just Came Back To Say Goodbye,” with its nasty crunch guitars framing a classic kiss-off, or the Hendrixian title track, you might think you’d stumbled across a great new Classic Rock artist. If someone played “Change Your Way Of Living,” you might wonder who the new boogie-woogie phenom is. You might mistake “The River’s Rising” and “Higher Love” for some smooth yet hardheaded urban soul-blues master. And the ballads, especially the album’s finest track, “Love Is Free,” might suggest a wise-beyond-his years R&B crooner. The fact that Bernard apparently IS all these things—and the way his smoking guitar follows him perfectly through all these musical landscapes—makes for an exciting sense of discovery indeed. He’s got all kinds of experience under his belt now, but at 35, he’s practically a rookie in the blues world. Like politics, the blues has become an old man’s game; the good new blood seems to revitalize the whole genre. And the fact that they’re talking about Bernard that way now. Well, get on the train now, and be able to say you knew him when.