Quite frankly, this was almost the recording that never happened. Sometime after Buddy Flett’s splendid 2007 release Mississippi Sea, the Shreveport guitarist/”A” Train alumni contracted viral encephalitis, which nearly left him as permanent burnt toast. Eventually, he began a long and arduous recovery, relearning his songs through countless listens to retool himself into the high-caliber bluesman that he was prior to this debilitating disease.

These sizzling, sometimes-scorching tracks not only mark his triumphant return but also reveal how his craft changed during his reconstruction process. Flett’s voice is more haunting, often capped with a bone-chilling vibrato, while his playing is grounded with a deeper intensity, as evidenced by the steady pounding in “Dance for Me” and the wicked, trance-like “Bad Luck and Trouble.” On “Train,” he beats the strings of his guitar like a drum and kicks his bass drum, sounding like a plane ready for take-off. And speaking of bass drums, Flett pounds a kid’s model on every track that was recorded live at various venues and studios throughout Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Blues devotees will likely appreciate the heavy Texas blues smothering of “Good to Ya Baby,” the rich string harmonics of Duane Allman’s “Lil’ Martha” and the chicken-eating homage on “Born in Mississippi (Mr. Hubert”) to bluesman/mentor Hubert Sumlin, whom Flett had the pleasure of touring with. The title has it right—no pretty-boy blues stuff here.