The Nighthawks have been playing their brand of blues and roots music for over 30 years. Singer and harmonica player Mark Wenner, who founded the group in 1972 (along with a young guitarist named Jimmy Thackery) has built the band into an institution in the world of blues and blues/rock. They’ve toured all over the country and in over a dozen countries, released an impressive catalog of albums, and have played and recorded with many blues legends, including John Lee Hooker, Pinetop Perkins, Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, Bob Margolin, and Muddy Waters. In 2005, guitarist Paul Bell became the latest in a long line of great lead guitarists (a list that includes Thackery, Margolin, Jimmy Nalls, Danny Morris, Pete Kanaras, James Solberg, Warren Haynes, and Steaurt Smith) and Johnny Castle took over the bass duties from longtime Nighthawk Jan Zukowski.

The Nighthawks’ latest release, appropriately on Powerhouse Records, is entitled American Landscape and mines sources ranging from raw and ragged swamp blues (Lazy Lester’s “Made Up My Mind”) to deep Southern soul (Sam & Dave via Steve Cropper’s “Don’t Turn Your Heater Down,” and Dan Penn’s “Standing In The Way”) to Motown (Marvin Gaye’s “Try It Baby”) to the songbooks of Bob Dylan (“She Belongs To Me” and “You Go Your Way”) and Tom Waits (“Down In The Hole”). The Nighthawks move easily from one musical style to the other, all the while leaving their own personal stamp on the music with Wenner’s gritty vocals, inspired harp work and Bell’s versatile guitar. There are two original compositions, both written by Castle and both upbeat numbers. “Where Do You Go” is a catchy pop rocker, and “Jana Lea,” written as a tribute to Castle’s wife is a hard-charging rockabilly tune.

Just in case you still question the band’s versatility, the disc closes with a blues version of The Andy Griffith Show theme (“Fishin’ Hole Theme”). I can just picture Opie and Andy strutting down to the fishing hole to this music.

If you’re already a fan of the Nighthawks, chances are you already have this disc. If you’re not familiar with them, consider the fact that Blues Bytes has now featured three reviews of this CD, all favorable, in the past three months, and check them out.