San Francisco-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Che Prasad on this solid Nola-infused release showcases remarkable musical and lyrical dexterity as he expertly moves between Western and Eastern, melancholy and rowdy, California and Crescent City. Here, Pasad’s expert, mystical sitar strumming on “Shadows from the East” is comfortably at home with the rowdy, loose J.J. Cale-s boogie of “Early Checkout.” Dreamy, Dylan-esque narratives (“Jeffrey Burgler”) co-exist with the bawdy ragtime of “You Never Liked Me”—a tune highlighted by the vocals of Meschiya Lake and the sousaphone of Matt Perrine, two local favorites (along with guitarist Alex McMurray and vocalists Luke Allen and Kiyoko McCrae, who kills it on “Another Show”) appearing throughout an album partially recorded in New Orleans at now-shuttered Piety Street Studios. Louisiana clearly left her mark on this West Coast talent, evident when Prasad gives a Tom Waits growl for a “breath of Crescent City” in “Take Me to Confession,” a raucous romp led by McMurray’s searing blues leads for a haunting soundscape that resonates with the freaky soundtrack of HBO’s True Blood. That’s a compliment. And so is this: While the carpetbagger claim may apply to some, it doesn’t fit Prasad; for any musician this astute and devout in the pursuit of their craft, mere labels don’t apply.