Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah. Do you like blues? Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah. You’re not alone.

Tonight, and the first Thursday of every month, The House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, hosts a blues jam. Whether you’re a novice or you know all of B.B. King’s b-sides, you can come out and play or sit back and listen.

The Northern Star recently talked to local musician John Sherman about the origins of the jam and why the House is the only place in DeKalb to get your blues fix.

Northern Star: How did the “Blues Jam” come to be?

John Sherman: About five years ago, my former band [Johnny and the Boomers] approached Jan at The House about doing a concept thing — a Thursday blues night called “Blues And Que.” You know, an entry fee will get you a plate of barbecue and you could listen to blues because I felt there really wasn’t an outlet for that in DeKalb. The first Thursday of every month Johnny and The Boomers and when we disbanded, we perpetuated that and now Jimmy Doyle and Ken Rodd are kind of overseeing what has turned into the Thursday night blues jam. It’s an opportunity for like-minded blues lovers to get together and call the key, call the tune and just kind of play.

NS: People say blues musicians need to have a dark past or something that inspires them to write music. Has there been anything in your life that’s inspired you to play blues music?

JS: I don’t know, it’s something I’ve always liked. I think as musicians, we have that little dark place we like to live in and write from that. You know, those kind of experiences, or whatever. It’s a common love I think and DeKalb needs it.

NS: For someone who’s never been, what’s a typical night like at The House during blues night?

JS: A typical blues night? You never really know what you’re going to get. You can get anything from folky blues to some really saturated Texas-style guitar. It’s all over the place because anyone can come and bring their horn, their guitar, their harmonica, there’s a house drum kit and a couple of amps set up — whatever you’re in to. You don’t even have to know the same song, it’s a feeling thing. Thankfully the House is there to provide that for us, the blues community in DeKalb.

NS: Why should someone come out to the “Blues Jam” tonight?

JS: The versatility of the blues is so broad. I always hate to think that people would like to lump it in to a genre like “it’s dead” or “it’s my grandparents’ music,” it’s very, very much alive. There’s a blues scene going on in DeKalb and it’s happening at The House. Go once and I won’t have to convince you.