Hoodoo blues how-to

Hoodoo Revelator singer Kevin Haney wasn't all that surprised when a fan in his 20s approached him to point out how the new Black Keys album sounds like old Howlin' Wolf records.

"It always comes full circle," Haney says of today's hit makers echoing a blues legend who rose to fame in the 1950s.

Haney practically lived the circle, developing a taste for the blues after becoming a fan of classic rock.  An older brother and sister had Haney listening to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath before he ever thought about being a musician himself.

Haney first backtracked from classic rock singing with a funky horn-driven 10-piece band. From there he pared down, moving toward a more traditional classic blues sound.  It was four years ago that the current incarnation of Hoodoo Revelator formed with Haney on vocals,  Willie Moss on bass, Robert Palumbo on drums, Dan "Moe" Moriarty on guitar, and Glen Assaro on harmonica.

Hoodoo Revelator brings the blues to the Coppertop Saturday night starting at 8.

Hoodoo Revelator can dig into a bit of Muddy Waters then hop over to a Rolling Stones song. The format is similar to what the early J. Geils Band did, so it's no surprise that Hoodoo Revelator does a little Geils in its show as well.

Haney says it's a pretty good time for the blues right now, no doubt as a younger audience is finding its way into the music through some currently popular bands.

"We're getting 21-year-olds to 60-year-olds at the shows. It's a style of music that will never go away," Haney says.

It helps too that Hoodoo Revelator is hitting its stride now that it has a few years together.

"We're tearing it up when we're on," Haney says.  "And lately we've been on a lot."