In an unexpected visit to the Napa Valley the Bay Area Blues Society will present Mississippi's the Johnny Rawls Revue for a one-time performance at DG's Saturday. Honoring black history month, Ronnie Stewart, executive director of the society will present a short lecture on the history of blues followed by this special concert.

Between touring with such legends as Z.Z. Hill, O.V. Wright and Little Johnny Taylor and forging a career of his own on the rough-and-ready southern blues circuit known in the African-American blues community as the "chitlin' circuit," Rawls spent the better part of 20 years on the road before most people outside a devoted core of admirers ever heard of him. It's been worth the wait; Rawls affirms that it's also been worth the dues.

Johnny Rawls was born in the Mississippi town of Purvis, by the time he was 12 or 13 years old, he was already learning the rudiments of music. His childhood idols included soulful vocalists like Jackie Wilson and the Impressions, and he remembers that he used to play O.V. Wright's records whenever he had the opportunity to put a couple of nickels in a jukebox.

People like Wilson and Wright are usually considered "soul" vocalists today, but Rawls' love for their music didn't make him any less of an aspiring bluesman. In Mississippi in those days, most folks didn't worry much about categories and labels when it came to good music. "Back then they considered everybody blues," Rawls said. "James Brown, B.B. King, whoever had a hit, had a hit."

In the mid-'70s, Rawls saw a childhood dream come true: He went to work for his old idol, O.V. Wright, as Wright's band director. After Wright died in 1980, Rawls joined Little Johnny Taylor and led his band for several years. Restless to strike out on his own, he eventually began to tour under his own name, and record.

Rawls finally came to the attention of what might be called the "crossover" audience -- the predominantly white listenership that gets most of its blues from CDs and nightclubs, instead of black-oriented blues radio and chitlin' circuit lounges -- when Willie Cobbs (of "You Don't Love Me" fame) put him in touch with Jim O'Neal of Rooster Blues records. Rawls, along with fellow soul session stalwart L.C. Luckett, accompanied Cobbs on his widely acclaimed Rooster blues disk "Down to Earth" in 1994.

"The south has an attitude," he said. "I would describe the attitude as more real, more serious Š a lot of northern musicians are just in a hurry; it's about money. Instead of being off into the music, they're off into 'What am I gonna get for this?'"

Rawls' musical tastes are as varied as his professional abilities and as wide-ranging as his itinerary. "My style is between gospel, blues and good hard soul music," he said, but when discussing his CD, which is seasoned generously with lush pop-structured melodies as well as hard-driving rhythmic impetus, that kicks with rock 'n roll energy, he added he wants to "test the water" in as many other styles as possible.

"A solo is what you feel, what a person feels," he acknowledges, but he hastens to add that this does not mean leaving one's brains at the door; nor does it mean setting the frets on fire with speed and flamboyance every time the opportunity presents itself. "I am thinking about what I'm doing; I try to get into the groove of the music. A lot of times, when I'm recording, I'll listen to the playback and I might do a solo over it if I'm not really riding the beat of the music, or if I'm not answering the vocals like I should. I try to let the music breathe. Š I don't like it when people run lines all over the music, all over the vocals. If they'd listen to B.B. King they'd know how it's done."

The Johnny Rawls Revue will be performing following a short lecture regarding the History of the Blues in honor of Black History Month. Doors open at 7 p.m. at DG's on Saturday. The lecture on the history of t he blues is at 8:30, music at 9. Cover for all ages is $15 at the door. For more information call 253-8474 or visit www.dgsjazz.com.