Hour Four steps out onto the back roads—dust, heat, broken strings, beer-soaked stages, and the kind of raw sound that doesn’t try to impress anyone. This is the hour where the music sweats. It’s a wide-open tour through gritty electric blues, country-tinged stompers, swampy grooves, and the kind of regional styles that big cities never fully understood. If Hour Three was about memory and mastery, Hour Four is about muscle, impulse, and edge.

Homesick James gets the first swing with “Lonesome Ole Train #1,” “Whiskey Headed Woman,” and “Late Hour After Midnight.” That slide guitar of his—loose, restless, almost off the rails—sets the tone. Homesick always played like he had one foot in the past and one foot dangling off a boxcar. These tracks feel like field recordings plugged into an amplifier. Clicks, scrapes, bottleneck wail—it’s the sound of blues carved into bone.

Johnny Williams follows with “Fat Mouth,” “Silver Haired Daddy,” and “About to Lose My Mind.” Williams is all punch and polish, the kind of guitarist who can snap the beat into place with a single riff. These cuts feel almost like the antidote to Homesick James: tighter, cleaner, more urban, but still carrying that same sense of urgency. Williams always sounded like he had something to prove.

Then Big Boy Spires drops in with “Better Take It Slow,” which—ironically—never feels slow. Spires had a way of creating tension even when the tempo didn’t budge. His voice is rough-edged, weathered, perfect for the song’s message. The hour starts to gain momentum here.

Frank Frost arrives like a gust of Delta wind with “Come Here Baby” and “No Bread No Meat.” Frost, a key figure of the Mississippi blues scene, had that half-lazy, half-deadly delivery—not rushed, not dragging, but hovering in its own pocket. His harmonica and vocals blend into a swampy, humid texture that makes these tracks addictive in their simplicity.

Katie Webster shifts the atmosphere with “Mama Don’t Allow,” “Hey Mr Love,” and “Girl Fifteen.” Webster always brought fire—both on piano and behind the mic. Her voice could smile, shout, or scald depending on the moment. She injects a burst of color into the hour, a reminder that blues can be both tough and playful at the same time.

Floyd Dixon’s trio of tracks—“Too Much Jellyroll,” “Operator 210,” and “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me”—raise the temperature again. Dixon walked the line between jump blues and early R&B, and here he adds swing to the grit. The hour begins to feel like a party that might get out of hand if left unattended.

Then Johnny Morisette takes over with “You Can Run” and “I Hear Love Chimes.” Morisette brought a kind of gospel-soul dramatic flair—big voice, big emotion, big stakes. These tracks serve as a bridge to the closing artist of the hour: Syl Johnson.

Syl’s “Let Yourself Go” and “Any Way the Wind Blows” close the hour with a polished, soul-steeped finish. After nearly an hour of rough textures, Johnson feels like stepping into a room with working air-conditioning and mood lighting—but he keeps the blues edge intact.

Hour Four is dirty, lively, loud, and honest. No polish. No pretense. Just straight-line blues energy.

PLAYLIST – HOUR #4

LONESOME OLE TRAIN #1 – HOMESICK JAMES

WHISKEY HEADED WOMAN – HOMESICK JAMES

LATE HOUR AFTER MIDNIGHT – HOMESICK JAMES

FAT MOUTH – JOHNNY WILLIAMS

SILVER HAIRED DADDY – JOHNNY WILLIAMS

ABOUT TO LOSE MY MIND – BIG BOY SPIRES

BETTER TAKE IT SLOW – FRANK FROST

COME HERE BABY – FRANK FROST

NO BREAD NO MEAT – FRANK FROST

MAMA DON’T ALLOW – KATIE WEBSTER

HEY MR LOVE – KATIE WEBSTER

GIRL FIFTEEN – KATIE WEBSTER

TOO MUCH JELLYROLL – FLOYD DIXON

OPERATOR 210 – FLOYD DIXON

DON’T THROW YOUR LOVE ON ME – FLOYD DIXON

YOU CAN RUN – JOHNNY MORISETTE

I HEAR LOVE CHIMES – JOHNNY MORISETTE

LET YOURSELF GO – SYL JOHNSON

ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS – SYL JOHNSON