The Mississippi Blues Band, playing delta blues of the 1920s and 1930s, will open at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

The blues band plays blues of the Mississippi delta region, including music by Skip James and Robert Johnson, said guitarist Brian Thornton of DeKalb.

Thornton, also an NIU journalism professor, has been playing the delta blues for at least 10 years.

“It’s a different experience than most people would have hearing blues,” Thornton said. “It has a raw, primitive sound with a variety of country and the blues.”

Band members include Thornton’s wife, Ellen, on vocals and Sycamore resident Mike Peterson on second guitar.

Back in the 1960s, Thornton played rock ’n’ roll and wanted to see what inspired bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, Thornton said.

“They say the blues had a baby and they called it rock ’n’ roll,” Thornton said. “I found bands like The Rolling Stones were inspired by Muddy Waters, and he was inspired by Robert Johnson and Skip James.”

The band provides a history of the blues between each song.

“It’s an experience people aren’t going to find anywhere else, where you can tap your feet but at the same time learn about the history of the blues and where it came from,” Thornton said.

Admission for the show is $5.