Friday: 9:15 p.m. Kenduskeag; Saturday: 4 p.m. Kenduskeag, 9:30 p.m. Railroad

Louisiana-born, Texas-raised Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown has been dishing up his unique blend of blues, rhythm and blues, country, jazz and Cajun music for more than 50 years. He is an American original whose music reflects the rich cultural milieu of the region in which he was raised. He’s a virtuosic guitarist who also plays the fiddle, harmonica, mandolin and drums.

Brown was born in Vinton, La., and raised on the Gulf Coast in Orange, Texas. He learned guitar and fiddle from his father, who played and sang the tunes of the region, including French traditional songs and German polkas. Brown began working professionally as a drummer during World War II. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he made his debut as a guitarist in 1947 as a walk-on at Don Robey’s Peacock Club in Houston. He picked up an electric Gibson put down midshow by an ailing T-Bone Walker and wowed the audience. Within a few minutes, he had been showered with $600 in tips – a large haul in those cash-strapped days. Robey soon had Brown fronting a 23-piece swing orchestra on a tour across the South and Southwest. The manager then formed Peacock Records, the first successful black-owned, postwar record label, to take Brown’s sound to a national audience. Dozens of hits followed, including “Okie Dokie Stomp,” “Boogie Rambler” and “Dirty Work at the Crossroads.”

Brown later moved to Nashville, where he was host for a television show and began adding country music to his repertoire, recording with Roy Clark and appearing on “Hee Haw.” Heavy touring in the 1970s established new audiences in Europe, East Africa and the Soviet Union, where Brown toured as a musical ambassador for the U.S. State Department.

In addition to receiving a Grammy for his album “Alright Again” (1982), Brown has been inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and is an eight-time winner of the W.C. Handy Award. He also received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.

Brown is approaching 80, and he is still on the road. In the words of Offbeat magazine, his hometown rag, “He just seems to get better and better with age.”

Profile on Page 58.