Naturally Powerful : Joe Louis Walker says he’s found that subtler, acoustic blues can still pack a punch.

Bluesman Joe Louis Walker can stir up quite a ruckus when the spirit moves him.

The pinnacle of the electrified, Chicago brand of soul- and gospel-tinged blues he’s played since his 1986 debut album may well have been “Mile-Hi Club” from his 1997 “Great Guitars” album, which featured solos by no fewer than five of today’s top blues and rock guitarists.

But with his new album, “Silvertone Blues,” Walker takes a significant departure from the muscular electric blues he’s favored so far on an excursion into Mississippi Delta music that shows his appreciation for quiet power of acoustic blues. The album gets its title from the 1930s-era Silvertone guitar that Walker plays and that originally sold for $8 in the Sears catalog.

“The nice thing about playing acoustic is that it’s a lot subtler and tends to move the piece forward,” Walker, 49, said by phone recently from his new home in Pittsburg, Calif. “You can control the dynamics . . . you’re not competing for volume. It’s great to actually hear everything that you’re singing.”

Walker has found friends in high musical places to help him before--the all-star lineup he assembled on “Great Guitars” included Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Otis Rush and Scotty Moore--a tradition he continues on “Silvertone Blues.”

Harmonica player James Cotton, guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart and pianist Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne are on board this time, but don’t look for any of the self-serving instrumental flash that so often characterizes contemporary blues playing. Solos were economical by design, even those featuring Walker on electric and slide guitar.

“How many people remember solos?” Walker asked. “It’s the songs that stick in your head. Even the great solos are pretty simple. All Albert King did was play the same seven or eight notes. The same with B.B. [King]. I don’t go for that showy stuff . . . I think a little goes a long way when it comes to guitar solos.”

Walker said it was his contributions to “Deep in the Blues,” Cotton’s Grammy-winning acoustic release from 1996, that led to “Silvertone Blues.”

“I’d done a few acoustic things in the past with James and Jimmy Thackery, and it was so much fun that I wanted to do a few cuts for my own album,” he said. “Well, I guess a few became a few more . . . and we wound up with this raw-sounding record where everything was basically a first or second take.”

For Walker’s taste and needs, he found Cotton an ideal blues partner.

“A lot of harp players worship at the altar of Little Walter,” he said, “but James has his own style . . . using so many little licks and runs that are unique to him. Plus, he doesn’t overpower your singing, which is something he probably learned from playing alongside Muddy [Waters] all those years.”

Walker is proud of of the three consecutive W.C. Handy Awards he won for contemporary blues artist of the year (1988-90). Still, with deep roots in gospel--he played with the Spiritual Corinthians from 1975-85--he doesn’t see himself working exclusively in a single genre.

“I’ve got a wandering spirit when it comes to music,” he said. “I am a blues player, but I’m not wedded to any one thing. . . . It’s like that old saying, ‘I like to eat chicken, but I don’t like to eat it seven days a week.’ ”

“There are a lot of different elements to what I do. You can hear some Memphis soul, gospel, rock . . . even a little jazz. I try to mix it up so there’s enough variety to keep me and my fans from getting bored.”

That said, Walker said he feels closest to the blues.

‘It’s like Willie Dixon used to say: ‘The blues are the facts of life,’ ” he said. “You can’t get away from getting down over a woman or because your rent’s overdue. Those are shared life experiences, no matter what color you are or what political party you belong to. We all can relate.”

“I’ve never been much for the brainy stuff. I like songs with ideas and words that aren’t fancy . . . just down-to-earth, everyday stories. That’s what the blues is all about.”

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Joe Louis Walker plays tonight at the Blue Cafe, 210 Promenade, Long Beach. 9:30. $12. (562) 983-7111. Also Saturday with Millertime Boogie and Blue Mama at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. $13.50-$15.50. (949) 496-8930.