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Summer vacation takes over The Roadhouse this week, with an archived show taking the stage. From late 2007, show 150 brings Kevin Mark, Billy Jones, Janiva Magness, Marie Knight, and Mavis Staples. They’re all important threads in the tapestry of The Roadhouse, and they set the stage for another hour of the finest blues you’ve … heard.

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The tagline I’ve used through the life of the show is beginning to take on yet another meaning. In the 292nd Roadhouse, “the finest blues you’ve never heard” are brand new blues. Nearly 80% of the tracks in this edition have been released in the past 3 months. Teeny Tucker, Matt Schofield, Eddie Turner, Vance Kelly, and Elvin Bishop help provide 60 minutes of new blues in the 282nd Roadhouse.

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High temperatures and near-recovery from the Mississippi Valley Blues festival make for the perfect reasons to stay indoors and listen to some great blues. The summertime mix includes Meena, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Magic Slim & The Teardrops, Luther Allison, and Chris James & Patrick Rynn. The 281st Roadhouse is one quick hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard.

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We’re in a festive mood in the 280th Roadhouse. I took the show on the road this week to the 26th annual IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, IA. Tight to the banks of the Mississippi, it’s one of the longest-running and most well-respected festivals in the country. Bernard Allison, Ana Popovic, Billy Branch, Hubert Sumlin, and Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue fill the 280th Roadhouse with festival music. It’s blues you’ve probably heard, but it’s still an hour of undoubtedly fine music – the 280th Roadhouse.

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Though you may not know it, The Roadhouse is available in four versions: regular, premium, deluxe, and radio. Each is a little bit different than the others. Because of those small differences, it’s actually easier to record the voiceovers separately than to do the show “live.” And, it offers me the opportuntunity to listen through each segment before adding the voiceovers to the music. It’s actually a pretty streamlined process that makes putting the show together each week as much an editing task as anything else.

Sometimes, though, it’s a two-edged sword. Inattentive editing this week pushed me right up against the business edge of that sword. As you’ve probably heard, the show actually had two intros. Or, more correctly, the same intro twice. I think that’s happened only once before and not quite as obviously as it did this week.

So, it’s an error that’s out there for the world to hear. I doubt that I’ll go back and correct it. I will try to stay more on-task in the future.

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The 279th Roadhouse is a showcase edition for some fine young blues musicans. Heavy on guitar and bordering, at times, on rock, these artists reflect but a few of the new directions for blues in the next several years. Anni Piper, Joe Bonamassa, Jonny Lang, Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcom, and John Nemeth help fill another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard.

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The 278 Roadhouse pulls out all the hues of the blues. Jump blues to acoustic, guitar and harp, old names and new faces, big blues labels and small. Daddy Mack Blues Band, Janiva Magness, Ghost Town Blues Band, Chris James & Patrick Rynn, and Eddie C. Campbell represent the full spectrum and stand right out in front for another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard.