Louisianian blues guitarist Larry Garner chats to Time Out Beirut on his religious musical up bringing and a musician’s life on the road. He brings his heart-hammering blues to Mojo’s stage this month.

Can you remember the first time you heard the blues?
Yes.

Who were your early inspirations?
My earliest were my paraplegic uncle George and the church evangelists that came around and played guitar and preached. Later I enjoyed whatever they played on the radio. My family was very religious so we didn’t have blues around the house.

Tell me about your first guitar.
My first guitar was a plastic Emenee that I had to beg my parents to get for me from the Spiegel catalogue.

You only went full time in 1994, before that holding down a full-time job and a few years of military service. What pushed you to give it all up and focus on the blues?
I started playing at age 11 and professionally at age 12 with gospel groups and at 16 with R&B groups. I played with several bands during the military. Once the military was finished for me coming back home was depressing, musically. The clubs had all gone disco and there wasn’t much band work. That’s when I got the day job. I enjoyed it very much at first but in time it became boring and stressful. I had to make sure my kids had a life so I stayed with the day job until they finished school. I had my third record deal and it was just time to make the blues pay their way.

Your album ‘Too Blues’ was in response to a label executive who judged your demo to be ‘too blues’. The music you play is delightedly pure, old-style blues, a rarity these days. Do you think of yourself as a blues puritan and why do you think it’s important to keep the blues simple?
I don’t consider myself a puritan because I have evolved outside the three chord change for every song. I think the song is the most important and the music is the catalyst for the song. I may not be a puritan but I am a blues man. I won’t say who said I was ‘too blues’ but I’m glad they did.

What’s your favourite kind of venue to play and why?
I like the intimate atmosphere of the clubs, although the festivals pay the best.

Your lyrics seem to come very much from day-to-day life. Is blues a release from life’s problems for you?
I guess the songs are more my way of fighting back without actually drawing blood.

You’ve travelled around the world playing at blues festivals and venues. Is life on the road inspiring for you?
I love my life on the road most of the time. I really enjoy going to new places and playing for new audiences. I have found the most inspiring thing is that we are all the same even though we speak different languages. We all hurt, cry, laugh and feel ashamed of the same things. That’s inspiring.

If you could play with any blues greats who would they be?
I would like to play with BB once. I’ve played with Buddy Guy and Louisiana Red and Gatemouth Brown already. Blues still has a huge worldwide audience.

What do you think it is about the blues that still draws people to play and listen to it?
It’s raw. The only thing I worry about is that political correctness will kill the blues. The blues are not politically correct and that’s why people yearn for the blues. It’s always been sort of underground and against the grain.