It was either a persona or the man performed the life he lives. Either way, last weekend, Northshore Performing Arts Center Foundation eased blues-lovers into the down-home style of singer-songwriter, Tim Williams. Guitar, mandolin, Delta, Appalachian, country, Mexican, Hawaiian, you name it. If it’s blues, Williams played it while telling stories.

What kind of stories?

Life stories, his life, the life of a kid who grew up swimming in music of all kinds and never stopped.

Here’s a coffeehouse poet who published in the 1960’s, recorded his music at age 20 and has since hobnobbed with everybody who’s anybody in the, distinctly American music of heartbreak and down on your luck. Wrangling horses, ranching, performing everywhere and married at least three times, this guy is a music maker who goes his own way. He drinks hard, lives hard and pours it all into the strings, steel and wood his hands get it back out of. Listening to him is like listening to grandpa. You know life is a party and people count.

A sample from one of Williams’ originals: “Can’t let my husband catch you here,” hardly timid Tim strumed and drawled the sentiment of a wife with a cheatin’ heart.” “I been married and it ain’t so bad,” the womanizer who sympathizes comes back. The song is country blues humanity. People make mistakes. Have a heart.

How about: “We’re a two car family. One’s for drivin’ and one’s for livin’ in?” The “We” is a Mexican immigrant couple trying to make it on minimum wage. The music is a mix of south-of-the-border and Texas country.

“New Babylon” is the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and civilization corrupting. It’s social protest with sixties-folk figured in..

How does Williams feel about singing the blues?

“Ain’t seen no whiskey, the blues done made me drunk.” This dude is his sixties and still getting high on what he does.

I never heard of Tim Williams before last weekend. But this big, scruffy, burley, red-faced santa claus in jeans and boots has his own lazy, gentle way of settling things down. The humor gets a little raw but only if you let it. Give it any kind of chance, and the blues this one-of-a-kind sings about can be as dark or bright as you make it. I liked it.

This was but one of the many attractions NPACF strives to enrich our community with. Times are hard, I know. But invest a little if you can. The return pays off.

Reactions? Comments? Email Dale Burrows at entfeatures@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@comcast.net.