Sat. April 11

Singer-guitarist Jo Lily likes to look at the band he fronts, The Mystix, as containing "some of the top guns that are out there." Like guitarist Bobby Keyes, drummer Marty Richards, bassist Marty Ballou and keyboardist Tom West. (Lily used to be known as Sam Deluxe, when he sang for Duke and the Drivers.) Lily says the Mystix, which plays Johnny D's,Saturday April 11 took the name because "we like the idea of magic in the music, that's the only reason we're still playing. We're doing it for the love and the magic when it clicks ... and the Boston connection." Which is? "The Mystic River." Oh, duh, right. Lily would love the two-year-old Mystix to become to Boston what the Subdudes are to New Orleans - that is, for people to say, if you come to that town, that's the band you've got to hear. Still, he's not claiming a leg up on other blues bands. What he's saying about the Mystix is this: "We're a gumbo of different musics, not married to any particular style, all over the road. Some stuff has more of an Elmore James feel, there's pure country - I'm a country nut, which I think is white blues - and some of it jazzy and melodic. We have an R&B core but don't owe allegiance to it. What we're saying is ours to say, we're not doing Elmore covers or Muddy covers, we're not trying to write 12-bar blues either. We're writing within our own source." One more selling point: "If they want to hear some serious guitar playing with me on slide and Bobby on lead they certainly will not be disappointed." They're on stage at 9:45. They're also celebrating the release of a new CD, "Down to the Shore."  Cover: 10.

17 Holland St., Somverille, 617-776-2004  www.themyxtix.com