VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Funderburgh, Myers Approach 10th Year : Bluesmen enjoy a productive partnership on stage and in the recording studio. They appear at Joe Daddy’s tonight.

That holiday-ending sigh of relief turned quickly into a gasp as the bills came rolling along with the dreaded certainty that now you will have to pay for it all. That’s why there’s the blues. And this is a good weekend for that kind of stuff.

Tonight at Joe Daddy’s in Ventura, a new joint rapidly becoming the happening local blues venue, it’s Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets featuring Sam Myers. Later this year, they’ll be celebrating 10 years together, which is almost long enough for them to qualify for their own Time-Life series. This week, their show will set you back 15 big ones.

Myers put out his first record in 1957, back when Ike was sleeping in the White House, Edd “Kookie” Byrnes was combing his hair every 10 minutes, and Funderburgh could have cared less because he was only 3. Growing up in Texas, there was no escape from country or the blues for young Anson.

“Blues is what always appealed to me, but I grew up listening to a lot of country and western, too,” he said the last time he came through the county. “I got my first guitar when I was 15 years old and also a bunch of 45s by people like Bill Doggett, Albert Collins and Jimmy Reed, and I thought ‘Man, this is really the stuff.’ ”

In 1981, when Funderburgh recorded the first-ever album on the Black Top label, “Talk to You by Hand,” he met Myers, who joined the band a few years later.

“I’ve always been a big fan of Sam’s, and I was familiar with his work with Elmore James,” said Funderburgh. “I had his first single from 1957. I first met him in 1982, so we were already friends before we started working together in 1986.”

*

The Anson & Sam Show is working out well, to say the least. They have won eight W.C. Handy Awards, making for one crowded mantel. So far, there are eight Anson & the Rockets albums on Black Top, the last six featuring Myers, including the most recent, “Live at the Grand Emporium.” The combination of Funderburgh’s economical guitar solos, Myers’ soulful vocals and cool harmonica playing and a tight band keeps them all on the road for over 250 gigs per year.

Friday, it’s Raging Arb & the Redheads doing their bluesy rock thing at Nicholby’s in Ventura. Opening will be the Rattled Roosters, a band Foghorn Leghorn could relate to, doing a blue rockabilly thing all the way from Canada. While around the corner and down the street at Joe Daddy’s again, it’s Harmonica Shorty--he’ll be the short guy with the harmonica.

Saturday, and Sunday it’s Blue Stew in the afternoons at HiCees--the place with two open doors--and no spelling skills--at the Ventura Harbor. That night, back at Joe Daddy’s, it’s Randy Rich & the Ravens, a tight trio including the newest Raven, drummer Donna Eveland, formerly of House of Games.

Sunday, it’s The Unfaithful Blues Band at Harbor Lights in Oxnard, and back at Joe Daddy’s it’s that rockin’ Santa Barbarian Rick Reeves, clearly a master guitar player.

Monday, Stevie Ray Davis, former guitar slinger for Michael On Fire (now a fire hazard in other states) will make the long drive from Palmdale to enchant the locals with his slick slide guitar work. Davis was nominated into the Texas Guitar Hall of Fame by Buddy Holly’s widow, a fact that will never look bad on a resume. And as Stevie Ray’s final twang resonates into the cool night air, be relieved that there are still 337 shopping days left until next Christmas.

*

In addition to bluesy stuff, there’s plenty of other good music worth checking out.

TONIGHT: Rob Rio, Dan McFeeley (Camarillo Cafe), Simple Phunkshun (Bombay Bar & Grill, Ventura), Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets featuring Sam Myers (Joe Daddy’s, Ventura).

FRIDAY: Finnhead (Harbor Lights, Oxnard), The Tijuana Hound Dogs (Eric Ericsson’s, Ventura), Nutmeg, blink 182, Euphoria, The Aquabats (Ventura Theatre), Raging Arb & the Redheads, Rattled Roosters (Nicholby’s, Ventura), Harmonica Shorty (Joe Daddy’s).

SATURDAY: Blue Stew (HiCees, Ventura), Simple Phunkshun (Johnny Dingo’s, Ventura), Suns of the Dead, Tribal Loungemen (Ventura Theatre), Royal Crown Revue (Nicholby’s), Randy Rich & the Ravens (Joe Daddy’s), The Skeletones, The Hymen Blasters (The Bar, Ventura).

SUNDAY: The Unfaithful Blues Band (Harbor Lights), Blue Stew (HiCees), The Rick Reeves Band (Joe Daddy’s), The Convertibles (The Bar).

MONDAY: Stevie Ray Davis (Cafe Voltaire, Ventura).