The Blues are alive and well. Saturday, April 4, John Mooney and Bluesiana invade the Barns of Wolf Trap. Mooney plays his electric guitar with a fire-and-brimstone intensity that would make Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards proud.

Some say Mooney has made a pact with the devil. Others attribute his blistering hand speed and raunchy sound to his mentor Edward “Son” House.

Mooney was just a teenager in Rochester, N.Y., when he first heard Son-style blues. A few years later, Son moved to Detroit and Mooney hitchhiked through America’s heartland until he settled down as a street performer.

In 1976, Mooney set out for New Orleans to explore another type of blues sound. Eventually he was able to fuse his own style with the uninhibited sound of Mardi Gras. Guitar Player magazine reported, “John Mooney’s slide work is thicker than sweet potato pie and spicier than okra gumbo. His phrasing, timing and tone are the stuff dreams are made of, and he plays with a conviction born of endless nights in steamy Louisiana bars.”

Downbeat Magazine praised Mooney for his “torturous passionate vocals with their growls, falsettos and quirky embellishments.”

Mooney’s current rise in status as a blues prodigy has not come easily. His latest album Dealing with the Devil (Ruf Records) explores his turbulent years of heavy drug use and abusive behavior.

The album, taped at a recent show in Bremen, Germany, captures the pure strength of his voice – powerful from years singing on street corners. It is undercut by the cries of his steel guitar.

Saturday night Mooney brings his devilish intensity and band Bluesiana to the Barns of Wolf Trap for a night. He promises to have repenters dancing away their sins and the rest of the audience members crying in their beers.

Wolf Trap is accessible by Metro. A bus travels to the park from the West Falls Church stop on the Orange Line before and after shows.