Like musicians everywhere challenged with survival after the pandemic devastated their gig schedules, Eric Johansen responded with a series of weekly livestream concerts. Fans requested various songs, not necessarily blues, and the New Orleans blues rocker mixed in a few covers of his own. The concerts became a collaborative experience between him and his fans.

Since Johanson wasn’t ready for another full album of original material following his October 2019 release of Below Sea Level, he instead recorded many of these livestream songs, plus other fan suggestions, solo in his home studio, which ultimately resulted in these two separately released volumes.

Vol. 1 doesn’t waste time launching surprises. It opens with an acoustic yet novel rendition of Chicago’s 1970 pop-rock hit “25 or 6 to 4.” From there, Johanson flies all over the map with more classic staples, including “House of the Rising Sun” and Greg Allman’s “Midnight Rider” to more modern selections like Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like a Hole” and Swedish rockers The Cardigans’ “Feathers and Fin.”

While his singing is on point and guitar work precise and nimble, Johanson did well in capturing the essence of many songs, such as retaining the chill groove of Free’s “Oh I Wept” and the light shuffle of Taj Mahal’s “Lovin’ in My Baby’s Eyes.”

At the same time, he doesn’t forsake his blues roots either with selections from Skip James and “Gatemouth” Brown. Willie Dixon’s “My Babe” is startling in this format since it’s universally associated with the legendary Little Walter and his buzzsaw-cutting harmonica playing.

Vol. 2 offers its share of surprises as well, especially with The Neville Brothers’ classic “Yellow Moon.” Johanson captures its tricky, intricate rhythms so masterfully on acoustic guitar, it’s a testament of how deep Aaron Neville’s composition was and why it has endured for so long. The Beatles’ “And I Love Her” is nicely done but not surprising since the Fab Four’s covers are always popular. Soundgarden’s “4th of July,” also rendered acoustically, is a surprise, especially with Johanson’s passionately, powerful interpretation. Compared to Vol. 1, there are more delta blues selections, with Johanson’s preference for material on the darker side. Of this lot, he channels the groove of Fred McDowell’s “Goin’ Down to the River” the best.

Vol. 2 bids adieu with the oft-covered jazz standard “My Melancholy Baby,” but don’t expect the romping version Ella Fitzgerald recorded for Brunswick Records in 1936. Rather, Johanson slows his down to a crawl and sings in a rumbly, lower register with a macabre, mysterious voice as if it were a surreal Hawaiian-tinged tune from a David Lynch movie. If Johanson were to continue this series, no doubt he’d continue to find ways to keep it interesting.

—Dan Willging