When 90-year-old James Lewis Carter Ford visits bars, he makes a special request.

“Play Taledragger,” he’ll say. When the bartender obliges, Ford (better known as blues man T-Model Ford) grins while he listens to his latest record. This summer, the nonagerian is on tour nationally in support of his recent record. 2010’s Taledragger is a dirty blues album that features gritty instrumentals and T-Model’s haunting vocals.

T-Model’s talent wasn’t learned in a school, or even as a young man. He didn’t pick up a guitar until he was 57, or so he says. Dates aren’t the sort of thing he’s precious about, but the half-century or so that he spent without a guitar affected his sound. He spent those years plowing fields, driving trucks, and even serving on a chain gang for a murder charge. When his third wife gave him a guitar, the result was authentic Delta blues. T-Model kept the guitar and lost the wife, which he regards today as a smart move.

While Ford insists that there’s nothing special about Mississippi, there aren’t many places that produce a sound like his. In his hometown of Greenville, Mississippi, it’s possible to stroll into a bar, ask if anyone knows where T-Model is, and be given his address. If you head to his house, you’re welcomed by his wife and invited to an impromptu session.

“People get on buses and come visit me,” says Ford. “They bring Jack [Daniels]. They like to hear anything that comes. I’m just smilin’ at them all the time.”

This summer, T-Model Ford is on tour and playing on stages instead of his front yard. With a pacemaker in place and his eye always on the ladies, he’ll play in New Orleans on Saturday at One Eyed Jacks. Doors open at 10 p.m.