John Németh

Boise to Beirut: Idaho bluesman John Németh is bad and (inter)nationwide.

Salt Lake City ain’t exactly blues central. Neither is John Németh’s hometown of Boise, Idaho. But while SLC and Boise, like many U.S. cities, lack the mythical rep of Mississippi crossroads and backwoods juke joints, the blues are everywhere. Even in Beirut, Lebanon. One might say especially in Beirut. Németh jokes that no matter where they are, people can see the blues. “Because they see, ‘Shoot. My life ain’t so bad. Look at that guy up there.’” More seriously, he recognizes that certain blues-inducing personal problems—bad love, hard times—follow anyone anywhere. But bombings, shootings? Unlike Beirut, they’re not so commonplace in our ostensibly more civilized locales. The Grammy Award-winning singer, harmonica player and Blind Pig recording artist saw the evidence firsthand during a week-long stand at a Beirut blues club, Bar Louie. “Every third building had bullet holes,” says Németh, who’d never been to the Middle East. “Or they were burned out from missile attacks and that kind of thing. It was very unusual for me to see ... and to actually meet the people that end

ure it all the time.”

There’s a YouTube video of Németh playing in the club with guitarist Najib Saab that could have been taken in any blues club in the States. Decorative guitars and a neon Bar Louie sign adorn the brick walls and the red arched backdrop behind Németh as he blows on his Hohner harp. The crowd is respectfully silent until the song ends and the camera pans over them as they applaud. It’s dark in the club, and the clapping indicates the crowd is either small or reserved—at any rate, their scene looks like any other Sunday night.