Playing in bands since the age of 16, Scottie “Mad Dog” Blinn describes his head-rush heartland music as “Lightnin’ Hopkins meets Social Distortion. I call it ‘grease punk’: deeply rooted blues, with a lot of attitude that tells a good story.

His band, Black Market III (founded in 2011 and originally called Black Market Baby), covers venerable players such as Tom Waits, Hank Williams Sr., and Leadbelly. “We play hard-hitting soulful blues and American roots music,” says Blinn, “with reverence to all the original bluesmen and women.”