One thing is certain, however, Evans has created his own distinct delivery out of the diversity of rugged individualists he admires. His new album, "Puttin It Down" (Rudioquest) is abundant evidence of that. It's not pure blues and not exactly anything else.

Evans sums it up best.

"There's a touch of blues in everything I do," he said. "Some blues puts you to sleep and some keeps you going. Mine keeps you going."

Originally from Vicksburg, Miss., Evans revisits his birthplace once in a while and he feels the results are consistently worthwhile.

"Mississippi is always home to me," he said. "Things have changed there. The blues are happening more there than they are here in L.A. Outside of the South, the success of the blues is more because of Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan bringing it into the mainstream."

But that doesn't stop Evans from pushing ahead with his career. He has worked with guitarist Ry Cooder off and on since 1979. More recently, he's played B.B. King's club in Universal City, Calif., three times ("a great place to work," he says), he's getting ready to open for Robert Cray in San Diego and he may be off to Europe as early as May.

Touring keeps him in touch with other blues stars and he values the kinship that kind of contact provies him with. "It's been a long trip for all of us," he said. "We all support each other." The essence of the whole scene is reflected in the Delta legacy that sustains the blues in general.

As Evans put it: "I was driving through Mississippi last August and I was listening to ëDown in Mississippi,' which is a track from my new album. I was looking out at that countryside and, man, let me tell you, it was a trip."

Given the gruff power of the song he referred to, and the bittersweet nature of the memories it must have evoked, it sounds like the trip of a lifetime.