Usually when an artist goes back to his rustic point of origin—in this case, the Ozarks—and records with locals, it’s a bid for authenticity, and acoustic authenticity at that. But this is Jimmy Thackery, formerly of D.C.’s Nightbirds, and these are the Cate Brothers, who once filled in the spots left open in the Band itself, and this is Rykodisc. So what you actually get is a mix of styles from all over the map; 10 songs that were cut loose in four days and then left there to boogie on their own merits.

“I Got A Rich Man’s Woman,” an old Muddy Waters favorite, is there to remind you of Thackery’s electric roots with the band, while the requisite post-Katrina ballad, “Levee Prayer,” mines a territory that can only be described as Delta soul. Throw in a couple of Junior Wells tunes, the genial, jazzy “Gimme Some Lovin’” rip of “Ain’t That A Lot Of Love,” some Memphis soul (“I’ll Come Running Back To You”) and some swamp-pop (the closing “Tell Me Goodbye”). Add at least one loose Chicago jam steeped in West Coast cool (the ironic “Arky Shuffle”) and you have a label debut which neatly sums up everywhere the noted blues guitarist has been and everywhere he hopes to go. It says next to nothing about either Arkansas or the Cates, but Thackery’s smeary, grease-stained thumbprint is all over it. How much more natural do you want him?