The Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, "Peyton on Patton"

In a nutshell: The Rev. Josh Peyton — a well-traveled practitioner of modern rural blues — turns back the clock to perform the songs of Mississippi music pioneer Charley Patton. The Big Damn Band will play a free show to celebrate the release of “Peyton on Patton” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, at Indy CD & Vinyl, 806 Broad Ripple Ave.

Fan finder: Peyton’s interpretations should be pure bliss for anyone who’s attempted to listen to Patton’s recordings from the 1920s and ’30s and found the gruff, scratchy source material to be a tough row to hoe. Fans of authenticity should note that co-producer Paul Mahern used a single microphone to capture Peyton’s voice and guitar in Bloomington. The format echoes Patton’s earliest recordings in another Indiana town: Richmond, site of a Gennett studio session in 1929.

That’s a keeper: Patton’s vivid storytelling shines on “Elder Greene Blues,” which swivels from the recruitment of souls to the destruction of sobriety. “I like to fuss and fight,” Peyton barks, and the line is repeated in the honeyed singing voice of wife and band mate Breezy Peyton.

Didn’t see it coming: Despite the stripped-down, mono context of “Peyton on Patton,” the Rev’s resonator guitar work tops everything found on four previous albums and an EP. His ability to simultaneously finger-pick melodies and thumb bass lines (as Patton did) is mesmerizing.

Selling points: Peyton branches out to play banjo on one of the album’s three versions of “Some of These Days I’ll Be Gone.” And fans seeking a party amid this history lesson aren’t neglected when “Shake It and Break It” boogies mightily as the album’s 13th track.

Visit the Big Damn Band's website.