South Sound musician Tim Hall admits to being “a little bit paranoid” about the current economic situation, but he’s pleased to have a new gig, hosting a Wednesday night jam at Inni’s in Lakewood.

Hall, a talented blues-oriented guitarist and vocalist, has seen a lot of ups and downs in the live music scene in his 41 years of performing, including times when the blues largely disappeared from South Sound venues.

“Before 9/11 it was really going,” the 58-year-old said recently. “After that, it slowed down. Cole’s, which closed down in Ruston, was the only club that had mainly just blues. Now, a lot of the live venues around town offer a variety of music styles.

“We’ve been lucky to be working five nights a week. We were doing that up until 9/11, and then it went down to two nights a week and sometimes one night a week. It was hard to pay the bills.”

Overall, however, he see blues-based music in a stronger position than it has been at other times, thanks in part to former Tacoman Robert Cray.

“Stevie Ray (Vaughan) and Robert sure brought it to the forefront,” Hall said. “When Robert had ‘Smoking Gun’ come out, all of a sudden he was playing the Gorge, other places and big festivals. He opened the door for … a lot of people to make more money.

“Heck, it’s our music, and yet – when we were growing up – it seemed like the British were much more hip to it – 10 Years After, Savoy Brown and those guys. People are digging it now. … And now you’ve got young guys like Jonny Lang keeping the tradition going but bringing it to a younger crowd. It’s more mainstream now, and people are more hip to it.”

As a full-time musician, Hall is keenly aware of music trends.

“That’s all I’ve ever done, since I was like 17,” he said. “I’ve done part-time jobs, but I started with rock ’n’ roll and gradually headed toward the blues.”

One of the people that steered Hall in that direction was Cray.

“Robert and I grew up in the same area of Lakewood,” he said, “so we played together for a year and half. That kind of gave me a good look at the blues.”

Another source of inspiration, for Hall and a lot of South Sound musicians, might come as a surprise: local military bases.

“What gave a lot of us a shot of R&B and blues and jazz were the NCO clubs out at Fort Lewis and McChord,” Hall said. “They had all these black entertainers who were phenomenal musicians. They rubbed off on all of us.”

Some of that legacy will rub off on audiences at Dawson’s, where Hall and his band play tonight and Saturday. The group also hosts an 8 p.m. open jam there on Sunday.

“We’ve been at Dawson’s for three years with the blues jam on Sundays,” Hall said, “and a lot of people from there are coming over to our new place.

Inni’s, the former Brickyard, is at 6008 Mount Tacoma Drive S.W.

“They just remodeled the whole place and in put in a stage and lights,” Hall said. “The food is phenomenal; they’ve got coconut shrimp and really good ribs.”

Hall’s basic band is guitar, bass, drums and sax, but he’ll add horns and more percussion “depending on the budget.” They kick off the jam shows with a set and then invite players to join in.

“It’s about half original and half old R&B and blues tunes,” he said. “We’ll even play classic rock.”

Ever the pragmatist about musical tastes, he added, “I’ll wear a lot of hats depending on what the club wants.”

Mississippi saxophones: The Oct. 19 Blues Vespers program at Immanuel Presbyterian Church will be the program’s third annual Harmonica Showcase. Paul Green & Straight Shot will host the event, and harmonica players Jeff Herzog, Grant Dermody and Dick Powell will sit in.

Whether you call it a harmonica, Mississippi saxophone, mouth organ or harp, the small instrument has been a big part of blues music, and the concert will showcase some terrific players. Green, a New Jersey native who used to play with Bruce Springsteen and his E Street cohorts Clarence Clemons and Little Steven Van Zandt, has won numerous Washington State Blues Society Awards.

Blues Vespers, which includes poetry, a brief reflection and silent prayer, starts at 5 p.m., and an offering is taken for the musicians.

HALF NOTES

 • Singer-songwriter Leanne Trevalyan brings her Trevalyan Triangle to the Mandolin Café tonight. Deborah Page will be there Saturday.

 • Station 56 will rock to Decade of Decadence tonight and Chicken Joe & the Fabulous Cocks on Saturday.

 • The Swiss features rock from Kry tonight and Saturday and blues from the Mary McPage Band on Monday.

 • One of the South Sound’s most venerable groove machines, the Great Pretenders, will be at Buckley Eagles Club on Saturday.

 • Jazzbones will mix jazz and R&B with Cole’lition on Saturday.

 • You can catch saxophonist Darren Motamedy’s smooth jazz at the Cedarwood on Sunday.

 • A Rhapsody in Bloom offers folk from Steve & Kristi Nebel Wednesday and features the Bluegrass Renegades on Thursday.

rick.nelson@thenewstribune.com