Much like the poet Walt Whitman, the blues contains multitudes. Seemingly a genre dedicated to searing guitar solos and feedback-drenched suffering, the blues also spans gentler acoustic moods. American bluesman Keb’ Mo’ (born Kevin Roosevelt Moore) has made this mellower branch of the blues family tree his home for more than a quarter of a century.

The five-time Grammy winner’s latest album, Good To Be, is both gentle and welcoming. You won’t find Jimi-Hendrix-inspired face-melting solos, but instead a batch of intimate acoustic songs that manage to feel both down-home and sophisticated.

The album’s opener, “Good To Be (Home Again)” pairs gentle fingerpicked acoustic guitar with a rootsy drumbeat. Think State Farm commercial meets the opening line Buffalo Springfield’s “there’s something happening here” opening to “For What It’s Worth.”

“Good to Be (Home Again)” is, precisely as the name implies, a listing of the wonders of returning to your origins.

“It’s good to be here/ It’s good to be anywhere/ It’s good to be back/ It’s good to be home again,” Keb’ Mo’ sings. It’s obviously a far cry from Clapton’s “Do you want to see me crawl across the floor for you?” but perhaps a nice sentiment to explore in 2022 when the world keeps falling apart. And Mo’s remembrances are tempered by the rough hands of time.

“The old barbershop is still going strong/ But it’s too damn bad my hair’s all gone,” he sings later in the song.  Amen!

“Good Strong Woman,” a collaboration with Darius Rucker brings a country music vibe to the album, replete with pedal steel guitars and a heartfelt plea that the listener find himself a woman who’s ready to support him emotionally rather than livin’ off his hard-earned cash.

“Life can be kinda hard on a man/ You’re gonna need a good strong woman that’s got your back/ Fill you back up when you’re outta gas,” Rucker and Keb’ Mo’ lament.

No doubt the album’s amazing-sounding acoustic guitar playing and occasional country twang are the result of country superstar Vince Gill’s role as producer.

“The Medicine Man,” which features fellow Nashvillians Old Crow Medicine Show, feels a bit like a hoedown, replete with fiddles and band chatter. Lyrically the song describes the COVID era.

Sings Mo’: “Well it looks to me like the end is coming/ Feets hurt and my nose is runnin’/ Friends and neighbors are droppin’ like flies/ And the color o’ your face, sanitize/ And everybody’s doin’ the best that they can/ And we’re all just waitin’ on the medicine man.”

While there’s some dark stuff on Good To Be, the album seems to be about feeling pretty good—or, at least, looking on the bright side. Or enjoying a little music while watching the world burn.

Follow writer David Gill at Twitter.com/songotaku.