A TASTE OF THE TEXAS BLUES

Artist: Angela Strehli.

Personnel: Strehli, vocals; Denny Freeman, guitar; Mark Kazanoff, saxophone, harmonica; Pat Whitefield, bass; George Rains, drums.

History: With two decades of work under her belt, the veteran blues singer predates the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lou Ann Barton on the Austin blues scene. She has won female vocalist honors at the Austin Music Awards four times in the last six years, and was selected by Vaughan to join the all-star group he assembled for a Carnegie Hall concert in 1983. Strehli was born in Lubbock, but her infatuation with blues and R&B; led her to haunt black clubs in Austin during the mid-’60s. She was one of the pioneers of the fledgling Austin scene then, but moved briefly to the West Coast in the late ‘60s before returning home in the early ‘70s. Strehli played a crucial role in establishing Austin’s showcase blues club Antone’s, doing everything from running the sound board to serving as resident female vocalist for visiting masters B. B. King, Bobby (Blue) Bland and Muddy Waters, as well as for hometown students like the Thunderbirds and Vaughan. Strehli rejuvenated her career in 1980 by forming her own band. The current lineup sports players who are regarded by many as the heavyweights of the Austin scene. Strehli’s EP was the first release on the Antone’s label and her first album, “Soul Shake,” came out a couple of months ago.

Sound: Strehli’s material falls into the standard Austin blues bag by mixing obscure, deep blues with some soul shots and a few originals. But “Soul Shake” is disappointing--it’s thinly produced, the soul-slanted material falls flat and the vocals are unconvincing except on J. B. Hutto’s “20% Alcohol” and Eddie Taylor’s “Big Town Playboy.” Still, the natural habitat of any Texas blues artist is a dark, sweaty club, so it will be worth a trip to find out whether Strehli delivers the goods in live performance.

Shows: Belly Up Tavern (Solana Beach) on Thursday, the Palomino on Saturday.