Fri. Oct. 17

 Ted Drozdowski got hooked by punk and psychedelic music when he was a young guitarist; then the dirty Southern blues bit him and bit hard. He moved from Boston to Nashville a while back to continue with his (mostly) two-man blues project, Scissormen, which plays the Lizard Lounge Friday Oct. 17. Scissormen is steeped in Elmore James-like slide guitar and juke joint attitude. Drummer Rob Hulsman is the other full-time Scissorman; on the latest disc, "Luck in a Hurry," guests include the Mighty Mighty Bosstones singer Dicky Barrett, ex-Concussion Ensemble and current a.k.a./c.o.d. drummer Larry Dersch, ex-Morphine drummmer Billy Conway and the late pianist Teo Leyasmeyer, to whom the new CD is dedicated. Noted producer Jim Dickinson calls Scissormen "acid blues for the 21st century."

Fri. Oct. 17

 Ted Drozdowski got hooked by punk and psychedelic music when he was a young guitarist; then the dirty Southern blues bit him and bit hard. He moved from Boston to Nashville a while back to continue with his (mostly) two-man blues project, Scissormen, which plays the Lizard Lounge Friday Oct. 17. Scissormen is steeped in Elmore James-like slide guitar and juke joint attitude. Drummer Rob Hulsman is the other full-time Scissorman; on the latest disc, "Luck in a Hurry," guests include the Mighty Mighty Bosstones singer Dicky Barrett, ex-Concussion Ensemble and current a.k.a./c.o.d. drummer Larry Dersch, ex-Morphine drummmer Billy Conway and the late pianist Teo Leyasmeyer, to whom the new CD is dedicated. Noted producer Jim Dickinson calls Scissormen "acid blues for the 21st century." Drozdowski - a music writer, who writes for the Boston Phoenix (as do I) - says, "We believe the blues is blood and guts vital and relevant as it was when the music's giants walked the Earth, if it's played right. So that's how we play it - respecting the music's roots, but not at the expense of its future." Drozdowski is a fan of the late R.L. Burnside - the renegade blues guitarist - and cherishes the time he got to join him on stage. Drozdowski, a college educated guy from Connecticult, can't claim Burnside's rough-'n'-tumble Southern roots, but he can claim to be a worthy disciple of the sound. It ain't straight-ahead and it ain't clean. It's woozy, it's distorted, it's occasionally ecstatic, it's sad, it's defiant. It's a long way from the yuppie polish modern blues has taken on. Scissormen's approach reminds me of the late lamented Gun Club, who blew up the blues like the Cramps did rockabilly. Scissormen don't have the Gun Club's punkish fury - they prefer a slower, more mournful pace, mostly. Though, if you check out "Whiskey and Maryjane," where Bosstone Barrett brings his Lemmy-like bark to the proceedings, you'll find they can bring the fury, too. First verse: "They say that time is wasting/and I'm wasted right on time/Can't spend another minute/Inside this head of mine. ... whiskey and maryjane." That's only a few of the vices proudly proclaimed.
Of the upcoming gig, Drozdowski says, "The show at the Lizard is going to be with two full kit drummers: Rob Hulsman, original Scissormen drummer, ex of cow punk legends 9 Pound Hammer (Blaine Cartwright's pre-Nashville Pussy band) and Larry Dersch . So it's two drummers and one guitar and that's it - very southern rock, but I am from Nashville now." At 9, the Peter Parcek Band opens. (Parcek doubles as guitarist for The Singhs.) Tickets: $8.

1667 Massachusetts Ave., 617-547-0759 www.lizardloungeclub.com