On “Sneakin’ Around” or “Miss Kitty,” Finley’s tales of lust and love are a timeless induction into the canon of the blues tradition.

Through the jaws of an alligator on “Alligator Bait,” where Finley shares a true tale of his grandfather using him as as bait to catch an alligator when he was a child or just the gradual pace of time, on “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely” a poignant track spotlighting the generation forgotten in nursing homes across the nation.

Struggle and celebration commingle in the stories of Black Bayou. I can fall asleep in my yard or sleep out on my porch, and nobody’s gonna bother me. “There’s good places here for hunting and fishing. “I’m not interested in living in no big city,” he says.

Finley doesn’t plan to call any other place home. If Finley’s previous albums established him as a formidable blues and soul artist – overcoming losing his sight in his 60s to become a music star – Black Bayou reveals Finley as something even more distinctive: a truly original Louisiana storyteller who evokes the place and its unique culture for the rest of the world.

Fishing planet louisiana unique