Robert Finley's new album 'Black Bayou' highlights Southern blues' timeless soul influence

Robert Finley is a 69-year-old North Louisiana bluesman with his star on the rise.

The latest chapter in Finley's improbable career resurgence comes as he prepares to play the Grand Ole Opry Saturday in support of "Black Bayou," a new album that feels like it could have been made in 1975, when he was just 21.

Behind songs like "What Goes Around (Comes Around)," "Sneakin' Around" and "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely," the album might have propelled him to greater acclaim all those decades ago. But almost 50 years later, they are finding an audience for music at the intersection between blues and soul.

He's only too happy to indulge.

"A lot of people just haven't had the opportunity to record -- or even just be heard," he said.

In 2015, the Music Maker Relief Foundation -- a non-profit organization that supports older blues musicians -- "discovered" Finley. Following an early attempt at music, a young Finley spent years in the Armed Forces and then a decades-long career as a carpenter. By the time the foundation connected with him, glaucoma had impaired his sight and he was in retirement.

But aided by the group, the tall, wiry and bearded singer gained a considerable underground following.

Finley is now legally blind. But he is still able to paint a vid portrait with his own brand of North Louisiana funk (think less New Orleans voodoo syncopation and more juke-joint-ready jump-blues and gospel-inspired soul). On one track, Finley scats and croons about being too old for the occasional late night rendezvous ("Miss Kitty").

Why does 'Black Bayou' sound timeless?

It's fascinating that Finley would've been 21 in 1975.

That year precisely delineates the rise of disco alongside the commercial decline of Memphis' Hi and Stax Records when they featured a popular set of blues and soul traditionalists. Their ranks included Issac Hayes, Al Green, Syl Johnson, Albert King, Little Milton, Ann Peebles, Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Johnnie Taylor and Rufus Thomas.

In its stead, funk-defined jazz fusion made by artists including Grover Washington, Jr. ("Mister Magic") and artists like Sade eventually rose to the forefront in the following decade.

Their sounds were not explicitly meant for juke-joint parties.

Instead, what gained in popularity was described by Village Voice reviewer Robert Christgau as rhythmic sounds that "[percolated] danceably" as "sexy background music."

In an August interview, Finley noted he'd played "anything and everything" for a half-century to remain sharp while waiting for tastes and times to revolve back to his liking. With influences stemming back to Ray Charles and Elvis Presley-era jukebox classics, he's long covered artists like Green and Redding, while continually playing country and gospel music in small bands.

"Man, at 69, I'm better at what I'm doing than I was at 29," joked Finley.

'Creating music that people want to hear'

"Black Bayou" is the type of recording that would drive Nashville's meticulous songwriting community crazy. Hear it live and the songs never sound the same way twice. They were primarily written on the fly as Finley vibed with the musicians in the room.

"When you're doing the thing you've always wanted to do since childhood, the songs just come to you naturally," Finley said during a late October conversation with The Tennessean.

Working with the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and his Easy Eye Sound Records afforded Finley the chance to work with frequent friends of Auerbach's blues reclamation work. Among them was the other half of the Black Keys, Patrick Carney, along with G. Love and Special Sauce's Jeffrey Clemens, bassist Eric Deaton and legendary Hill Country blues guitarist Kenny Brown.

Finley also showcases artists vocalists Christy Johnson and LaQuindrelyn McMahon -- Finley's daughter and granddaughter.

On songs like "Miss Kitty," Finley's comfortable enough in the room to sing a colorful tune, telling his girlfriend that, though he's a globetrotting blues musician, he will not mix his career with his personal life.

"I surprised [my girlfriend] with that one and she got a kick out of it," he laughs.

Finley has now released four albums in less than a decade, as he finally introduces himself to a national and multigenerational audience.

"I'm trying to sing my life's factual truth like a preacher would preach the gospel," Finley said.

"From the dance floor to the record to the stage and yeah, even my friends in nursing homes ("Nobody Wants To Be Lonely"), I've got something for everyone at every stage in their lives," he continued. " Some way, somehow, ["Black Bayou"] is going to make you aware of my message and the fact that I'm here to unify everyone as we're all going along through life."

For the song "Alligator Bait," Finley leaned on family lore.

He described having never met the song's protagonist, his grandfather. But rather he recalled enjoying listening to generations of family members told campfire stories about him during Finley's youth.

"Working with Dan [Auerbach] is such an out-of-this-world fantastic experience that makes the studio feel like a fun [whirlwind] of a time," added Finley.

"I'm not pushing to create the music people have already heard. I want to make things that [the current marketplace] wants to hear."

Robert Finley: 'I'm serious about what I'm doing'

"What comes from the heart goes to the heart," said Finley. "The people can always tell if you're serious about what you're doing, so I'm as much about the cheers after they hear me singing a song as when they want to take a photo with me for social media at the merchandise table after my set is completed."

Finley sings songs that feel like they're meant for momentary pleasure. However, dig long and deep into the catalog of every great blues artist. They have all mastered the ability to mine timeless permanence from preaching to powerful moments shared in countless lives.

"At this point, the goal of my career is to remind people that they shouldn't give up easily on their careers or lives. Life doesn't begin at 20 or 40 sometimes," Finley said. "The best is always yet to come."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Robert Finley's new album 'Black Bayou' highlights Southern blues' timeless soul influence