CRITIC'S CHOICE

Storyville, Friday, October 7, at the Boulder Theater, is a Texas quintet that offers a fresh take on the music of the Lone Star state by coupling its blues base with passionate punk and soul influences. The band, which borrowed its name from New Orleans's fabled and glamorous red-light district, features bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton (renowned for their work in Double Trouble), former John Mellencamp guitarist David Grissom and guitarist Dave Holt. This combo provides tangy backing for Malford Milligan, who came out of nowhere to win the Best Male Vocalist prize at the recent Austin Music Awards. If the atypical poignance of Milligan's compositions and presentation on Storyville's November Records debut The Bluest Eyes haven't yet caught your ears, seeing the band ought to seal the deal. Milligan's not only a peculiar and deft musician--he's also the only six-foot-four-inch African-American albino and practicing Buddhist on the blues circuit today. If there's anyone who can highlight every side of the blues prism, it's him.