Apple pie, baseball and John Wayne — just a few things muster up strong feelings of the heartland.

Last Thursday, in the guise of the North Mississippi Allstars (NMAS), Otto’s Niteclub, 118 E. Lincoln Highway, featured the final member of the patriotic cluster — the blues.

Aromas of patchouli and pot resonated from a multi-demographical crowd that featured students, soccer-moms and the sporadic English professor. The “Save Southern Rock” T-shirts roaming the audience added to the night’s apt environment.

Supporting the 2003 release “Polaris,” NMAS paraded its Blues Hammer styling on stage shortly after 11 p.m.

The good ol’ boy quartet, each a master of his respective instrument, rambled through a 23-song set that lasted a grueling two-and-a-half hours.

Combining elements of classic delta blues and contemporary jam bands, NMAS played to a near-capacity crowd. Though the bulk of the set was made up of tracks from the band’s most recent release, selections from earlier recordings “Shake Hands With Shorty” and “Phantom 51” also made it onto the bill.

NMAS took turns rotating between instruments, as each member played several during the evening — including an impressive washboard solo by percussionist Cody Dickinson.

Frontman Luther Dickinson finger-picked his way through the show, as onlookers were torn between singing every word or standing in amazement at his guitar trickery.

Though the evening culminated in a spacey jam session, the show began with an energy not felt for the remainder of the night.

In an era that finds many bands playing a mutated, happy style of the genre, The American Modern played the blues how it should be — passionate, rough and with enough energy to fuel the fire inside all listeners.